3 May 2022
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
After two years of virtual events, Tourism Ireland is getting back to live, in-person sales missions to the United States once again. Tourism Ireland, together with a delegation of 14 tourism companies from Ireland – including The Titanic Trail – and five American tour operators, is undertaking a sales blitz to the US this week – meeting, and doing business with, hundreds of travel agents in Boston, New York, Washington DC and Chicago.
The schedule includes a B2B event in each city, with an interactive presentation showcasing Ireland – giving the participating companies a platform to promote and sell their products and services to the key American decision-makers in attendance. It also includes opportunities for networking with key travel and lifestyle journalists and influencers.
Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America, said: “Our ‘Best of Ireland’ sales mission this week provides an excellent platform to highlight the many things to see and do, and all that is new and exciting, on a vacation to Ireland in 2022.”
Before COVID-19, in 2019, we welcomed 1.7 million American visitors to the island of Ireland, whose visits delivered revenue of €1.6 billion for the economy. This year, Tourism Ireland is rolling out its biggest ever programme of promotions in the United States, to restart overseas tourism to Ireland.
Alison Metcalfe continued: “We are rolling out our Green Button campaign in the United States right now – urging travellers to ‘press the Green Button’ and book their trip to Ireland this year. Our extensive programme of promotions is targeting those consumers with the greatest potential to travel to Ireland. Our message is very simple: Ireland is open for business again and we cannot wait to welcome back visitors from the United States. We’re telling prospective US visitors that a warm welcome awaits them when they travel to Ireland, despite the disruption of the last couple of years.”
A similar ‘Best of Ireland’ event will take place on the west coast of the United States next month, visiting Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
PIC SHOWS: Eamonn McEneaney, Waterford Treasures; Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland; Michelle Maguire, Ireland’s Blue Book; Siobhan McManamy, Tourism Ireland; Michael Martin, The Titanic Trail; Gerry Ginty, Powerscourt Distillery; and John Horgan, GPO Museum, taking part in Tourism Ireland’s ‘Best of Ireland’ sales blitz in New York.
