A group of Canadian travel agents explored the island of Ireland last week as guests of Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland, Tourism NI and Air Canada.
The travel agents flew to Shannon on Air Canada’s new direct flight from Toronto, making the visit a good opportunity to highlight ease of access for Canadian holidaymakers to the west of Ireland.
The agents attended a ‘Canadian Expo’ B2B workshop in Athlone and a networking event organised by Fáilte Ireland and Tourism NI in Belfast, where they met with local tourism companies to negotiate for their 2019 programmes. They also visited attractions such as Bunratty Castle & Folk Park, the Foynes Flying Boat Museum, King John’s Castle, Cnoc Suain, Clonmacnoise, the Marble Arch Caves and Enniskillen Castle.
Encouraging Canadian Tourism
Dana Welch, Tourism Ireland’s manager in Canada, commented, “Tourism Ireland was delighted to invite these Canadian travel professionals to visit the island of Ireland to see and experience some of our many great attractions and to encourage them to include Ireland in their programmes for 2019.
“Air Canada’s new flight from Toronto to Shannon, which was launched earlier this year, is good news for tourism to the West of Ireland, providing Canadian holidaymakers with easier than ever access to the Wild Atlantic Way. 2017 was the best year ever for Irish tourism from Canada, with visitor numbers increasing by 11% over 2016. We are determined to ensure that success continues.”
© 2018 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
