PIC SHOWS: Tourism companies from the island of Ireland and Canada in St John’s, on day one of Tourism Ireland’s sales mission to Canada, with Sandra Bailey Moffatt (back, third left), and Lauren Lamonday (front, third right), both Tourism Ireland.
Tourism Ireland leads sales blitz to Canada
15th April 2026 – Tourism Ireland, together with a delegation of 16 tourism companies from the island of Ireland and Canada, is undertaking a five-city sales mission in Canada this week. The delegation will meet key Canadian travel advisors, tour operators, airline and media representatives in the cities of St John’s, Halifax, Moncton, Montreal and Toronto.
Canada is an important growth market for overseas tourism to Ireland, now representing our fifth-largest source of overseas tourism revenue. Ireland has seen strong growth in annual visitor numbers from Canada in recent years, up 35% since 2023, and this trend continues into the first two months of 2026.
This week’s sales mission provides an important opportunity for the participating tourism companies to do business with Canadian travel professionals for 2026 and beyond – highlighting the many things to see and do on a holiday here, including our world-class visitor attractions, our rich culture and heritage and our superb accommodation offering.
Sandra Moffatt, Tourism Ireland’s Manager Canada, said: “Our sales blitz this week provides an excellent platform for our tourism partners from the island of Ireland to inform and influence Canadian travel professionals about what Ireland has to offer and, importantly, to encourage them to include the destination in their future programmes and recommend it to their clients.
“Air access from Canada to Ireland for this summer is positive – with around 306,000 seats available on flights to Ireland from six Canadian gateways, from four airlines, with capacity for the full summer season currently planned to be up +9% compared to summer 2025.”
Tourism Ireland is undertaking a major programme of Consumer, media and travel trade and promotions throughout 2026 to continue to grow tourism from Canada. The organisation is inspiring potential Canadian visitors with compelling reasons to travel to Ireland.
