The magnificent surroundings of the Dining Hall at Trinity College Dublin were enhanced by the wonderful voice of tenor Miguel Angel Sanchez Cuevas, ably assisted by flautist Diego Gomez Sanchez and guitarist Adriano Lorenzo Revidiego, who entertained members of the Irish travel trade with sounds of Andalucia at the eighth annual Andalucia workshop and dinner, reports Ian Bloomfield.
Three tourist boards, along with several hotels and resorts, were on hand at the workshop to update the Irish trade of new and innovative products available in the Andalucia region.
The guests were welcomed to the dinner by Teresa Gancedo, Director, Spanish Tourist Office, Dublin, who unfortunately will be leaving Ireland in August after a very successful three-year stay in which she has enjoyed the business and social life here. Teresa informed the guests that 7.2 million International tourists visited Spain in 2018 and 1.8 million Irish were in this total – a year-on-year increase of 6.5%.
Antonio Martin-Machuca, Marketing Director, Tourism Andalucia, who was delighted to be back in Trinity for the eighth year, informed the guests that the terrible weather he was experiencing here in Dublin made the bright and sunny weather he had left behind in Andalucia a great reason to sell the region for the Irish travel agents. Antonio was looking forward to welcoming the ITAA conference to Cordoba in October.
John Spollen, ITAA President, said that the annual Andalucia workshop and dinner was now firmly established as one of the highlights of the year in the Irish travel trade calendar and he also said that the trade were looking forward to visiting Cordoba in October.
Spanish Ambassador HE Ildefonso Castro, who is enjoying a second visit to Ireland after serving here earlier, stressed that there is a very special relationship between Spain and Ireland – and with so many Irish tourists going to Spain every year the bond keeps getting stronger.
