28 September 2012
As the autumn sales blitz continues, businesses had the opportunity to meet and sell to over 20 of Britain’s top coach tour operators.
The workshop was held in Sligo and is just one in a series of workshops taking place throughout September and October providing members of the Irish tourism industry with a platform to explore serious business opportunities for the 2013 season.
The all day workshop, which was organised in conjunction with Tourism Ireland, facilitated one-to-one meetings between the British coach and group tour operators and members of the Irish tourism industry.
Workshops, such as this, offer significant benefits to both Irish industry representatives and overseas buyers, allowing participants to meet with many more buyers and suppliers at a lower cost than would be possible on an individual purchasing sales trip.
Speaking at the workshop, Shaun Quinn Chief Executive of Fáilte Ireland said -
“Great Britain is our largest overseas market – representing half of all our overseas visitors. Given this fact, opportunities to engage directly and pitch to this market are incredibly important to the tourism sector.
“In particular, the coach tourism market from the UK is extremely appealing as it brings visitors into all regions of Ireland. Coach tourism can achieve a regional spread of visitors and distribute tourists’ spending power across all parts of the country. This is especially important for local businesses and jobs outside city destinations.”
At the workshop all the visiting travel agents were briefed on The Gathering 2013 and how they can work next year’s festivities into their itineraries. Fáilte Ireland also put together a number of tailor-made tours so that the travel agents could get out and about, to learn at first hand more about the country, and really get an authentic taste of what an Irish holiday can offer.