SAS, together with Tourism Ireland, welcomed a delegation of 23 leading Nordic tour operators to Ireland, with the tagline ‘This time they’re invited’.
The four-day visit began with Scandinavian Airlines flying the delegation to Dublin in a specially-commissioned retro ‘Viking Longship Aircraft’. The influential tour operators will spend four days on a fact-finding mission in Dublin, as Tourism Ireland aims to build on the growing Nordic tourism market and showcase some of what Ireland has to offer as a holiday and business tourism destination for Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Finnish and Danish visitors.
In previous years, this networking event has taken place in the Nordic capital cities. However, in this special year of The Gathering Ireland, the tour operators are coming here for the 2013 event.
“Scandinavian Airlines is delighted to support Tourism Ireland by bringing 23 ‘Viking’ tour operators to Dublin in this special year of The Gathering Ireland,” said Alan Sparling, Country Manager for SAS in Ireland. “This year SAS celebrates 47 years flying into Ireland and we have more flights than ever before. We welcome the Scandinavians to Ireland and we also welcome the Irish to Scandinavia.”
Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “Tourism Ireland is delighted to welcome these leading Nordic tour operators to Ireland as part of our extensive promotional programme with key influencers around the world. In 2012, visitors from Mainland Europe accounted for about 32% of all visitors to Ireland, with visitor numbers from the Nordic countries growing by an estimated +5% last year. Tourism Ireland wants to build on this momentum of continued growth.”
