Sally O’Brien of Aran Island Ferries – together with other leading tourism representatives from around the island of Ireland hit the road in Australia recently, joining Tourism Ireland for a week-long sales blitz to promote Ireland as a top holiday destination. Playing on the huge popularity of talent competitions right now, the theme of this year’s trade mission was “Ireland’s Got Talent”, with 15 of Ireland’s leading tourism operators joining Tourism Ireland ‘Down Under’. Their busy schedule saw them meet with hundreds of Aussie and New Zealander travel agents, tour operators and carriers, as well as influential media contacts in the cities of Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland.
Jim Paul, Tourism Ireland’s Head of Australia & Developing Markets, said: “Australia and New Zealand are important markets for tourism to the island of Ireland, delivering over 150,000 visitors last year. Holidaymakers from these countries tend to stay considerably longer than the average visitor and enjoy visiting the various regions of Ireland. This type of trade mission, where we talk directly to influential travel agents and tour operators and tell them what makes the island of Ireland such a fantastic holiday destination, provides us with an excellent opportunity to grow business further from the market in 2011 and beyond. It is an excellent opportunity for the participants to showcase their product to important decision-makers around Australia and New Zealand and to encourage them to include the island of Ireland in their future holiday programmes.
“Tourism Ireland has had a strong promotional programme in place throughout 2010, highlighting the island of Ireland as a fantastic holiday destination. We have been placing significant emphasis on value for money, to drive home to Australians our message about the superb range of offers available around the island of Ireland.”
