Representatives from the world of online travel are in Dublin today for Fáilte Ireland's Evolve Ireland event, which it says is tailored to improve online marketing for the tourism and hospitality industries here.
Evolve Ireland is being held in Croke Park and is the first of several events organised by the Irish tourism authority during 2016.
Talks will take place at the event between representatives from Booking.com, Expedia and Lastminute.com and the Irish tourism trade.
Fáilte Ireland reports that the European online tourism market will continue to grow this year and is anticipated to be worth over €126bn in 2016.
According to Fáilte Ireland, recent research has uncovered that Ireland does not exploit digital sales strategies as well as other markets, while adding that that Irish knowledge of online platforms is in need of improvement.
Paul Mockler, Head of Business Development at Failte Ireland, said: "Failte Ireland believes that the tourism sector needs to embrace online sales platforms. 'Evolve Ireland' is a central part of our wider strategy to develop stronger relationships with online tour operators which will in turn help to sell Ireland internationally".
Helen Maher from Expedia added: "Events like this are so important as they bring people from all corners of Ireland together, giving us the opportunity to meet with these accommodation providers. This allows us to discuss ways for them to leverage their partnership with Expedia and to further increase their presence in the ever evolving online travelspace".
