ITOA, the Incoming Tour Operators Association, is hosting a major ‘speed-dating’-style business workshop in Dublin tomorrow, Thursday 14th March. Thirty of Ireland’s leading inbound tour operators will be meeting in Fitzpatrick’s Castle hotel with over 200 owners and operators of tourism businesses from the entire eastern region of Ireland stretching from Belfast to Waterford and Cork, and with a heavy emphasis on Dublin, Wicklow and the Boyne Valley.
The room will be filled with delegates from tourist attractions, entertainment venues, restaurants, and from all accommodation types ranging from hotels to self-catering holidays to B&Bs.
Each delegate will have a series of seven-minute face-to-face meetings with leading Irish tour operators, where they will be able to pitch for new business, promote their own tourism products and at the same time gain valuable insights into tourism trends for the coming year.
A similar workshop was held in Limerick on Monday to cater for the west coast of Ireland and has been a great success. Over 200 owners of tourism businesses met with 30 tour operators at that event.
Ruth Andrews, ITOA Chief Executive, said: “This event marks the start of the contracting period for 2014. It’s speed-dating for the tourism business. The primary focus will be on bringing in new business for 2014, but may also result in new bookings for this year. We’re hoping that it will help to further the love affair that exists between millions of tourists and the island of Ireland.”
Gerry Nicholls, ITOA President, added: “This is a crucial event for all of us involved in tourism in the west of Ireland. Working in partnership allows us to generate more visitors from all of the overseas markets who want to experience an authentic Irish holiday.”
