26 October 2019
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Eleven (11) top travel agents from the US are visiting Cork and Ireland this week – as guests of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. They’re all members of Virtuoso – an international network of luxury travel agencies – and they are visiting Ireland for the very first time!
The aim of their visit is to showcase some of the many things to see and do here for high end American travellers and to really enthuse the travel agents about selling Ireland. Their action-packed programme included a networking evening with local tourism operators in Hayfield Manor. They next day, they enjoyed a guided tour of Cork city and visited the Jameson Distillery in Midleton.
PIC SHOWS: Hillarie McGuinness, Tourism Ireland (left); Letty Cronin, Fáilte Ireland (fifth right); and the US travel agents, during their action-packed trip around Ireland.
Pic – Don Moloney
PIC SHOWS: Hillarie McGuinness, Tourism Ireland (front, right); and Letty Cronin, Fáilte Ireland (fourth right), with US travel agents in Hayfield Manor.
“We’re delighted these travel agents took time out of their busy schedules to come and experience our luxury tourism offering and see for themselves what Cork and Ireland have to offer their clients,” said Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America. “This is a first-time visit for all of the travel agents – so, our aim is that when they return home, they will really knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the destination, helping to secure a greater share of their business for Ireland.”
Alison Metcalfe continued: “Tourism Ireland has prioritised North America as a market which offers a strong return on investment, in terms of holiday visitors and expenditure. The most recent CSO figures, for January-August, indicate growth of +5% in arrivals from North America over the same eight-month period last year. Tourism Ireland is undertaking an extensive programme of targeted promotional activity to continue to grow North American visitor numbers and, in particular, to encourage more holidaymakers to explore our regions and less-visited attractions, during the shoulder and off-season months.”
