PIC SHOWS: British coach operators before their boat tour of Killary Fjord, with Alex Goor, Killary Fjord Boat Tours (left); Linda Duncan (second left) and Caroline Mulligan (third left), both Tourism Ireland; and Letty Cronin, Fáilte Ireland (sixth left).
Sixteen (16) top British coach operators have been exploring Ireland, as guests of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. They were here to take part in a B2B workshop in Limerick – connecting with around 45 tourism companies from across Ireland, to negotiate for their 2025 programmes.
The tour operators also took part in a fact-finding visit, to experience for themselves the high standard and variety of our tourism offering. Their action-packed itinerary included a site visit to The Keadeen Hotel and a behind-the-scenes tour of The Curragh Racecourse. In Galway, they enjoyed a Trad on the Prom show in Salthill, a guided tour of Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Walled Garden and a boat tour of Killary Fjord. It was then on to Mayo, where the group visited Westport House, took part in a soda bread making experience with The Irish Soda Bread Way and visited the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life. They also enjoyed a tour of Foxford Woollen Mills and a walking tour of Westport.
Julie Wakley, Tourism Ireland’s Head of Great Britain, said: “Tourism Ireland was delighted to invite these leading British tour operators to Ireland, to see and experience some of our many visitor attractions and to encourage them to extend the Ireland content of their existing programmes and itineraries, or to include Ireland for the first time in their 2025 programmes.
“Tourism Ireland is rolling out an extensive programme of promotional activity in Britain this autumn – highlighting compelling reasons to visit Ireland. Our autumn campaign aims to take advantage of late booking trends, as there is still plenty of business to play for. One of our key objectives is to drive more business to our regions, right throughout the off-peak and shoulder season months.”
