Eight Irish tourism enterprises joined Tourism Ireland last month for this year’s Meedex, a meetings and events fair which took place at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, France.
Meedex is one of a number of business tourism promotions taking place in France in 2013 at which Tourism Ireland will have a presence.With over 150 exhibitors from 25 different countries, this year’s show attracted about 1,000 visitors – including representatives of companies from France and Belgium who organise international conferences, meetings and large- scale incentive events around the world. Billy Condon,Tourism Ireland’s manager in Southern Europe, said: “France has always been a strong player in the French marketplace for incentive business and we are now also proactively targeting the association conference sector, together with
our industry partners from Ireland. Our presence at this event was a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness about the exciting programme of events taking place during this special year of The Gathering. TourismIrelandhasan extensive programme of promotions under way in France, and elsewhere around the world, to highlightThe Gathering.As well as directly targeting the Diaspora and those with a connection to Ireland, we are also working closely with decision-makers involved in the MICE (meetings, incentive, conferences and events) industry, to enthuse them about the destination and encourage them to include the island of Ireland in their 2013 programmes.”
Business tourism is the most lucrative form of tourism, with visitors travelling here for business purposes spending about 2.5 times more than the average visitor. Tourism Ireland’s promotional programme to grow business tourism from France this year includes highlighting the superb meetings, incentive and transport infrastructure on offer here, the ease of access from France to Ireland, as well as the good value rates available for meetings and conferences.
