Eight out of ten international conference delegates recommend Ireland for business or a holiday

Fáilte Ireland supported conferences have already brought in 40,000 delegates and €52m revenue in first half of this year 

A Fáilte Ireland survey of business visitors, who attended conferences in Ireland earlier this year, has recorded high levels of satisfaction from overseas delegates. A total of 86% of respondents expressed themselves to be satisfied or extremely satisfied with Ireland as a destination for conferences, while 83% were likely or very likely to recommend Ireland for future conferences.

Furthermore, following their business trip here, 87% of the conference delegates questioned said that there were likely or extremely likely to recommend Ireland as a holiday destination. Indeed, 76% of respondents said that they themselves were likely to return to Ireland for a holiday or a short break in the future.
 
The majority of the 457 international conference delegates who completed the survey for TNS MRBI were questioned during the period March-April 2009. A significant amount (40%) had travelled from North America and the majority (69%) were over the age of 35. There was an even split in respondents between male and female.
 
A full copy of the survey is available to download at: http://www.irelandinspires.com/en/internaltrade/business-tourism-research.aspx
 
Responding to the survey results, Fáilte Ireland’s Head of Business Tourism, Mr Keith McCormack emphasised –
 
“These findings are very welcome and will inform our future plans for business tourism. These levels of satisfaction reflect well on the professionalism and quality of the business tourism sector in Ireland and indicate potential for further growth. Business tourism visitors are important for the Irish economy as they spend significantly while here and three quarters of them say that they are likely to return again as holidaymakers”.
 
Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism welcomed the Fáilte Ireland survey results saying -
 
"Ireland offers the quality product demanded by discerning business visitors, combined with a unique tourism experience. This business visitor survey is very encouraging and illustrates high satisfaction levels in addition to a strong commitment by business delegates to recommend Ireland as both a conference location and a holiday destination. We must continue to build on this reputation. Every high-yielding business visitor offers more than just a single opportunity. Not only is their individual trip to Ireland of significant economic benefit, but there is also the opportunity for Ireland to provide them with a positive experience that they return, perhaps for another business meeting or for a holiday. 
 
The global conference market is worth up to €40 billion per year, and 870 international association conferences take place in Europe annually. The opening in September 2010 of the National Convention Centre in Dublin will play a key role in attracting additional conference market clients to do business and to enjoy all that our capital and country has to offer."
 

International Business Travel Expenditure in Ireland

The typical conference delegate spends, during their stay, €876 in out of pocket expenditure. Out of pocket expenditure includes accommodation, food, drink, transport and shopping but not flights or conference fees.
 
Almost a third of all respondents estimated their out-of-pocket expenditure to be over €1,000 – this group is dominated by business people who travelled from North America (perhaps not surprising considering they are more likely to spend longer time in Ireland compared to their European counterparts). One in 10 visitors spent over €2,000.
 
Overall, women were the higher spenders with an average of €960 out-of-pocket expenditure versus €785 for men.
 
Not surprisingly, accommodation represented the single biggest out-of-pocket expense, followed by food and drink, shopping and transport.
 

Conferences and Business Tourism

Fáilte Ireland directly supported 89 international conferences in 2008 and these conferences brought over 29,000 overseas delegates to Ireland with a revenue yield of almost €36 million to the Irish economy. Importantly, to date this year (to June 2009), Fáilte Ireland has already supported 71 conferences involving 40,000 delegates and €52 million revenue in total.

Corporate travel and incentive-based tourism is a high-yield and growing component of international tourism. In Ireland this segment of the tourism market has been identified as an area of considerable potential for this country, in particular with the development of the national conference centre, Conference Centre Dublin (CCD). Indeed, in the recent tourism figures from the CSO for 2008, it was the only area which enjoyed a growth in overseas visitors (up 10% from 1.2 million visitors in 2007 to 1.3 million last year). Business tourism overall generated €594 million in 2008.
 
Fáilte Ireland provides tailored business supports for the Business Tourism sector aimed at developing and growing the promotable business tourism visitor market. Key supports include:

•     Understanding the international business tourism market
•     Managing Ireland’s international business tourism brand
•     Developing appropriate business tourism strategies
•     Implementing development action plans in partnership with Ireland’s business tourism industry

In an innovative move, 250 potential conference ambassadors – to promote Ireland as a business venue abroad - have been identified by Fáilte Ireland. Already, 36 of these have been recruited and introduced to professional conference organisers. The potential value of the current business events being promoted by these new ambassadors is approximately 31,000 delegates and almost €40 million in revenue.
 
ENDS

For further information please contact:
Alex Connolly
Head of Communications
Tel: 086 7966320
 

Note for editor

Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, was established in 2003 to guide and promote tourism as a leading indigenous component of the Irish economy.
 
The tourism and hospitality industry employs an estimated 250,000 people and generates more than €6 billion in revenue a year.
 

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