Ireland Showcased To UK Tour Operators

By Dave Simpson
Ireland Showcased To UK Tour Operators

Twenty-six British coach and group tour operators visited Ireland last week as guests of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. They were here to attend a workshop in the Dunboyne Castle Hotel, where they met with Irish tourism enterprises to negotiate for their 2019 programmes.

The tour operators also took part in a fact-finding visit to experience for themselves the variety of Ireland's tourism offering. Their programme included visits to Carrickmacross Lace, Slane Castle, Trim Castle, the Battle of Boyne Visitor Centre, the Pearse Lyons Distillery and EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum. They also attended a cookery demo at Ghan House in Carlingford and partook in activities at Causey Farm near Navan.

An Important Market

Julie Wakley, Tourism Ireland’s head of Great Britain, said, “Tourism Ireland was delighted to invite these top British tour operators to Ireland to see and experience some of our many visitor attractions, and to encourage them to extend the Irish content of their existing programmes, or to include Ireland for the first time in their 2019 programmes.”

Wakley added, “Great Britain is an important market for tourism to the island of Ireland. It delivers 47% of all overseas visitors and around 30% of all overseas tourism revenue. Tourism Ireland is rolling out a busy, multi-media programme of promotions this autumn to keep the island of Ireland ‘front of mind’ with British travellers and to position us well for 2019.”

© 2018 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.

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