Ten Irish tourism companies, are in Canada and the United States this week, to participate in a three-city ‘Meet in Ireland’ sales blitz.
County Roscommon is represented by the Athlone Springs Hotel, Monksland. The companies are visiting Toronto, Minneapolis and Chicago – highlighting the island of Ireland to key business tourism buyers in each city, through a series of B2B networking events.
Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America, said: “The superb meetings, incentive and transport infrastructure around the island of Ireland make it a great choice for the business tourism market in Canada and the United States. Our sales blitz this week has been really well received by all of the buyers we’ve met. It’s another valuable platform to showcase and sell the island of Ireland and to continue to build awareness of our world-class business and conference facilities.”
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 in North America has been undertaking a busy programme of promotions throughout 2016, to continue to build awareness of the island of Ireland as a world-class destination for association conferences and incentive travel – through a programme which included direct marketing, B2B events and familiarisation visits to the island of Ireland for decision-makers working in the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events) sector.
‘Meet in Ireland’ is the official MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events) brand for the island of Ireland. It comprises three tourism authorities – Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland – who work in partnership to promote the island of Ireland as a leading conference and meeting destination.