Westport House was among 10 tourism enterprises from Ireland which travelled to London last weekend to join Tourism Ireland for Excursions, an annual group travel show which attracts about 1,000 influential coach and group tour operators from around Great Britain.
Visitors to the show included coach tour operators and group travel organisers representing all types of clubs and associations around Britain – who are responsible for putting in place arrangements for holidays and excursions overseas for groups. The one-day show provided an ideal opportunity for the participating Irish companies to network and do business face-to-face with decision-makers from the important coach and group travel sector; the objective was to encourage them to introduce Mayo and the island of Ireland to their programmes or brochures for 2014, or to extend the programmes in which Ireland already features. The Wild Atlantic Way and the many festivals and events taking place here in 2014, were a major focus at this year’s Excursions.
Vanessa Markey, head of Tourism Ireland in Great Britain, said: “Great Britain is our largest tourism market, delivering almost half of all our overseas visitors. Events like this provide an excellent opportunity for us to raise awareness of the many things to see and do around the island of Ireland for British visitors – underpinned by a strong value message. As well as positioning the island of Ireland as a ‘must-see’ destination among the influential group travel organisers in attendance, our presence at excursions was a fantastic opportunity to highlight the Wild Atlantic Way, as well the exciting programme of events taking place this year.
