PIC SHOWS: Ciara Hanley, Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum; Emily Wheeler, Tourism Ireland; and Madhushika Ginige, Tour Axis, at Tourism Ireland’s Flavours of Ireland 2024 in London.
~ Tourism Ireland’s ‘Flavours of Ireland’ event aims to grow our share of the global tourism market ~
Tourism Ireland’s ‘Flavours of Ireland’ event took place in London this week – connecting Irish tourism businesses with leading global inbound tour operators who deliver visitors at scale to Ireland from all over the world.
Now in its 22nd year, ‘Flavours’ is an annual Tourism Ireland workshop – where 60 tourism companies from across Ireland meet and do business with around 100 global inbound tour operators, who’re mainly based in London and who deliver business from all over the world, including the United States, Mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa.
The largest of the tour operators attending brings around 80,000 visitors to Ireland each year and events like ‘Flavours’ help them set itineraries, determining the regions and communities that they bring visitors to. The tour operators are preparing to sign contracts for 2025 and beyond, so it’s a key time to influence the addition of new tourism products to their programmes that have the potential to deliver more regional and longer-stay business for Ireland. Around 660 commercial meetings were conducted at the event, which will, in turn, deliver business for Ireland from around the world in 2025 and beyond.
Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “Tourism Ireland runs our Flavours of Ireland event to increase awareness of Ireland among influential global inbound tour operators and to secure a greater share of the global travel market. We are delighted to connect inspiring local tourism businesses from across Ireland with global tour operators, who build itineraries to sell overseas for the coming years. Over 600 commercial meetings take place at our Flavours of Ireland workshop. Local tourism businesses attending offer diverse experiences, from boat trips to cathedrals and castles, from gardens and distilleries to tea tours, from places to stay to ways to travel and regions to explore.”
Tourism companies from Ireland participating in Flavours of Ireland 2024:
- AC Hotel by Marriott Belfast
- Aran Island Ferries
- Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
- Belfast Distillery Company
- Boatyard Distillery
- Brewery Hops of Ireland
- Caherconnell Fort & Sheepdog Demonstrations
- Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council
- Christ Church Cathedral
- City Hotel Derry
- Dillons Hotel
- DK Connemara Oysters
- Doolin Ferry Co
- EI Travel Group
- Excursions Ireland
- Experience Gaelic Games
- Fabulous Food Trails
- Faithlegg House Hotel
- Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum
- Griffin Group
- Guinness Storehouse
- Hastings Hotel Group
- Hidden Howth Experiences
- Historic Royal Palaces – Hillsborough Castle and Gardens
- Holiday Inn Express Derry-Londonderry and Portrush Atlantic Hotel
- Holiday Ireland Hotels
- iNUA Holdings
- Irish National Stud and Gardens
- Kildare Village
- Kintra Boat Tours
- Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Walled Garden
- Lough Erne Resort
- Merry Ploughboy Pub Traditional Nights
- Midleton Distillery Experience
- Mid Ulster District Council
- Mount Congreve Estate Garden
- Mourne Mountains and Ring of Gullion
- Newbridge Silverware Visitor Centre
- O’Callaghan Coaches
- O’Donoghue Ring Collection
- Original Irish Hotels
- Pearse Lyons Distillery
- Powerscourt Estate
- Select Hotels of Ireland
- Shannon Ferries
- Shannon Heritage
- Sliabh Liag Cliff Experience & Visitor Centre
- Stena Line
- Taste and Tour NI
- The Ebrington Hotel
- The Gleneagle Group
- The Old Inn
- The Shed Distillery
- The Talbot Collection
- Titanic Belfast
- Trinity Hotel Groups
- Vintage Tea Trips
- Visit Belfast
- Waterman House
- Whiskey Island
