Approximately 200 tourism businesses from across Ireland will meet in Athlone on October 14 and 15 to share business intelligence and hear about good practice and new trends to help them remain competitive, prepare for new opportunities, and increase performance.
The two-day residential networking event is part of Fáilte Ireland’s supports to the tourism industry and is being attended by members of the 12 Fáilte Ireland tourism learning networks which between them cover the entire country.
Tanya O’Neill, Rover Coaches, Mullingar and member of Fáilte Ireland’s Mid-Shannon Network, is looking forward to the event. “The Tourism Learning Networks are a great opportunity to learn from and work with others in your local area. Although tourism, like other sectors, faces real challenges at the moment, we are focused on developing our businesses, creating innovative offerings for the visitor, and becoming stronger,” she said.
Speaking prior to the event, Colm Breheny from Fáilte Ireland stressed; “This networking event is all about bringing together those at the frontline of Irish tourism and hospitality to allow them share experiences and look at how they can work together to achieve greater impact in their region and for their businesses.”
The networking event will include input on the first day from expert speakers in a range of areas including environmental and energy management, public relations and social media. This complements significant ongoing training throughout the year in areas such as web-marketing and financial management which support participants to focus on new ways to win business while keeping costs low. There will also be time set aside for more informal contact between businesses.
Expert guest speakers on the second day include John Brennan, managing director of the Park Hotel Kenmare and co-presenter of the At Your Service television programme on RTÉ.
Other speakers include Paul Easto from Wilderness Scotland and John Mason-Strang from Nae Limits, Carole Fitzgerald from the Scottish Seafood Trail, Jane Magnier, MD of Abbey Tours, and Brendan Dunford from the Burrenbeo Trust.
