The Great Lakes Region of the US, along with Yolanda Fletcher (Managing Director, Cellet Marketing & PR) and Lynsey Lamont (UK & Ireland Account Manager, Cellet Marketing & PR) held an event in the Hyatt Centric, Dublin last night as part of their Ireland sales mission.
The region consists of the states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota and these join together to combine and build on their individual marketing efforts and promote the region as a whole.
Yolanda Fletcher, who has been working with the Great Lakes for over 25 years, spoke about the strong partnership between these states and Ireland and how the connectivity is growing with new routes and connections with the airlines.
Aer Lingus launched their new Cleveland route in May this year and this is bringing a lot of people from Cleveland to Ireland, so the goal for 2024 is to have more Irish people visit Cleveland.
United Airlines, who are celebrating 24 years flying out of Dublin and Shannon have their route to Chicago and Newark, which gives great connections to the Great Lakes Region. Delta, Air France and KLM provide lots of options via Amsterdam and Charles de Gaulle Airports.
The BBQ food last night gave people the opportunity to taste some of the local Great Lakes produce, from Cherry Ketchup to Cleveland dill pickles and stadium mustard.
There were lots of other snacks to taste including Garrett popcorn, dried cherries, edible Buckeyes and Brownie Points.
Key points from the Great Lakes Representatives
Jennifer from Visit Detroit spoke about the new airline routes that give clients more opportunities to visit Detroit. Detroit is known for music and cars. The Motown Museum is getting a 40,000-square feet expansion providing the opportunity to record your own Motown hit.
Detroit also has the largest free jazz festival and the largest techno festival in the states. They have a strong connection with Ford cars and Corktown is named after the Irish immigrants who moved to the state.
Chicago will be host to IPW in 2025 and they are hoping the President Barack Obama Library which is due to open in 2025 will be ready for IPW. In 2026 it’s the 100th anniversary of Route 66 and the President’s Cup will be coming back to Chicago. It’s all systems go for Chicago over the next few years.
Columbus is the 14th largest city in the United States and the largest city in Ohio. They have five neighbourhoods in the downtown region which stretches over five miles and includes German Village, named after the large population of German immigrants. We tried edible Buckey’s last night which are named after the tree nut, these ones were peanut butter filled. Brownie Points, which we also got to try, have recently been signed to a three-year contract with the Browne’s to be at every game.
Nothing beats a buffalo chicken wing and thanks to Leah from Buffalo I now have some handy handbag buffalo sauce ready for wings wherever I go. Famous for their ‘wings’ Buffalo hosts the ‘National Buffalo Wing Festival’ at the start of September every year with wings coming from every region.
The region gives an ‘artsy vibe’ as there are lots of areas being transformed and they host the ‘Music is Art’ Festival in September. Buffalo also has the eighth-largest Irish population in the States.
Emily from Visit Cleveland invited Ed Finn who has recently been on a trip to Cleveland to speak about his experience. Cleveland is the home to the only Rock n Roll Hall of Fame which you could spend anywhere from two to six hours in.
On the 8th of April 2024, you will be able to experience a solar eclipse in Cleveland. The food culture is huge in Cleveland, from Irish bars to Indian to an Argentinian steakhouse and a food hall, there’s something for everyone. The Playhouse Theatre has 12 theatres, so you can enjoy Broadway performances.
Thank you to Cellet Marketing and Great Lakes for all the snacks I can’t wait to try and for hosting a wonderful evening. For more information on the Great Lakes visit – www.greatlakesusa.co.uk
