5 November 2019
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
PIC SHOWS: Italian travel agents at Charles Fort in Kinsale, with Elena Zenzocchi, Tourism Ireland (left); and tour leader Massimiliano Pelli (fourth left).
Pic – John Roche Photography
A group of travel professionals working with one of Italy’s leading tour operators, Boscolo Tours, has been enjoying a fact-finding visit around Ireland – as guests of Tourism Ireland.
The aim of the visit was to really enthuse the travel agents about our superb tourism offering and to highlight some of our lesser-known attractions and experiences. The busy itinerary included Kinsale, with lunch in the Trident Hotel and a visit to Charles Fort. They visited the Cork International Hotel and then continued to Cork city, to experience an evening at the Cork Jazz Festival. They stayed in the Maldron Hotel on the South Mall. The next day, they did a walking tour of Cork, with a stop in the English Market, followed by a tour of Cobh.
Niamh Kinsella, Tourism Ireland’s Manager Italy, said: “We were delighted to invite representatives of Boscolo Tours to visit Cork and Ireland. Their visit was a really good opportunity to showcase our superb tourism offering and to really enthuse the travel agents about selling holidays to Ireland. Seeing is believing – and our aim is that when they return home, they will be even more enthusiastic about the destination, helping to secure a greater share of their business for Cork and Ireland in 2020.”
In 2018, we welcomed 384,000 Italian visitors to the island of Ireland.
Niamh Kinsella continued: “Tourism Ireland has been undertaking an extensive and targeted programme of promotional activity in Italy throughout 2019 – to continue to grow Italian visitor numbers and, in particular, to encourage more Italians to explore our regions and less-visited attractions, during the off-peak season.”
