A group of over 20 top group and retail Canadian tour operators met and did business with over 70 key tourism businesses from across Ireland at a workshop in Cavan's Slieve Russell Hotel on Thursday October 19.
The workshop, which was organised by Fáilte Ireland in conjunction with Tourism Ireland, was designed to attract more overseas visitors from key markets such as Canada and provide a cost and time effective business opportunity for the Irish tourism businesses to meet and sell to buyers at one-to-one sales meetings.
Speaking at the workshop, Fáilte Ireland head of trade and promotion Ciara Sugrue said, “In 2015, over 165,000 Canadian tourists visited Ireland spending an estimated €133 million, so the Canadian market is an important market for Ireland. As well as seeking to capitalise on recent increased air access into Ireland, we are also focusing on using Canadian’s tendency to travel south between December to March on account of their harsh winters to extend Ireland’s traditional tourism season by showcasing the breath of experiences available in Ireland outside of the summer months.”
To further showcase what Ireland can truly offer, Fáilte Ireland also put together a bespoke itinerary getting the travel agents out and about in Donegal, Sligo, Louth and Dublin so that they could experience an authentic taste of what an Irish holiday can offer. These trips will play a key role in persuading the agents involved to promote Ireland as a holiday destination to their customers.
