28 September 2017
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
Tourism Ireland’s 2017 sales mission to the UAE and India kicked off this week. A delegation of 12 Irish tourism operators, including Sheenco Travel (based in Clashmore, near Bantry, West Cork), is taking part in the targeted travel trade mission. With approximately 100,000 visitors from the UAE and India travelling to Ireland last year, Tourism Ireland is committed to growing tourism from these markets further in 2018.
The participating Irish companies will meet, and do business with, more than 350 top travel agents and tour operators in the key cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai (in the UAE) and Mumbai and New Delhi (in India). They will brief local editors, travel journalists and bloggers, giving up to 20 media interviews and promoting holidays on the island of Ireland. And, they will meet with influential decision-makers from the world of travel and aviation, including representatives of the World Travel and Tourism Council, as well as from major airports and airlines in the region.
Business links between the tourism companies from Ireland and the influential travel professionals in these markets will also be strengthened during the sales mission, through a busy programme of workshops, presentations and networking events. The objective is to engage with UAE and Indian travel professionals who are currently selling Ireland, or who have strong potential to sell the destination – and to encourage them to extend their Ireland offering, or to include Ireland for the first time, in their brochures and programmes for 2018.
Commenting on the sales mission, Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “Our sales mission is a key element of our promotional programme in the UAE and India. It gives our tourism partners a platform to inform and influence the travel trade in those markets about what Ireland has to offer and, importantly, encourage them to include the destination in their brochures and programmes. Tourism Ireland is committed to growing visitor numbers to Ireland from emerging tourism markets and our sales missions play a significant role in helping us achieve this goal.”
Eugene Garrihy, Doolin2Aran Ferries/ Dublin Bay Cruises; Genevieve Sheehan, Sheenco Travel (based in Clashmore, Co Cork); Clare Garrihy, Doolin2Aran Ferries/ Dublin Bay Cruises; David Wardell, Irish National Stud & Gardens; Siobhan Naughton, Tourism Ireland; Gary Gorman, Exploring Vacations; Robert Mazzucchi, Tailor Made Tours International; Lars Olsson, Stena Line; Alexandra Mehaffy, National Trust – Giant’s Causeway; Judith Webb, Tourism NI; and Peter Brazil, My Holiday Ireland, during the Tourism Ireland sales mission in Dubai.
