Twenty-six British coach and group tour operators are exploring Ireland as guests of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. They are here to attend a workshop in the Dunboyne Castle Hotel, where they met with Irish tourism enterprises to negotiate for their 2019 programmes.
Above are British coach tour operators with Caroline Mulligan (second left) and Linda Duncan (back, right), both Tourism Ireland, at the tourist office in Carlingford.
The tour operators also took part in a fact-finding visit to experience for themselves the high standard and variety of our tourism offering. Their action-packed 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 enjoyed a cookery demo at Ghan House in Carlingford and activities at Causey Farm near Navan.
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.”
Britain is a vital market for tourism to the island of Ireland. It delivers 47% of all overseas visitors and around 30% of all overseas tourism revenue. Its contribution to the regional tourism economy and to season extension objectives are also significant, with 41% of British visitors arriving between October and March.
Julie added: “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.”
