Donegal tour providers attend global ‘Flavours of Ireland’ event London

Carolyn Humphreys, CHR Travel; Mark Henry, Tourism Ireland; and Jane Taylor, White’s Tours, at Flavours of Ireland 2022

placeholder image — Carolyn Humphreys, CHR Travel; Mark Henry, Tourism Ireland; and Jane Taylor, White’s Tours, at Flavours of Ireland 2022

Slieve League Cultural Centre, and two Ballyshannon-based companies - B&B Ireland and White’s Tours & Hotels - attended the business-to-business workshop, which has the aim of growing the Irish share of the worldwide tourism market

Three Donegal tourism companies were among the 60 from Ireland who attended ‘Flavours of Ireland’ 2022 in London last week.

Slieve League Cultural Centre, and two Ballyshannon-based companies - B&B Ireland and White’s Tours & Hotels - were at Tourism Ireland’s annual event, where tourism companies from Ireland meet and do business with top global inbound tour operators.

The business-to-business workshop has the aim of growing the Irish share of the worldwide tourism market. Now in its 20th year, ‘Flavours’ took place in the Guildhall, in the City of London, and was attended by around 100 global inbound tour operators who deliver business from all over the world, including the United States, Mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa.

‘Flavours’ provides an excellent opportunity for the three participating Donegal tourism providers to highlight and sell their tourism product and build valuable relationships with the key decision-makers in attendance.

The global inbound operators are preparing to sign contracts for 2023 and beyond so now is 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.

“In 2019, these tour operators were responsible for delivering around 5 million bed-nights to the island of Ireland,” David Boyce, Tourism Ireland’s Head of Global Inbound and Emerging Markets said.

“As they prepare to sign contracts for 2023, we very much welcome the business and networking opportunities our workshop presented. Our aim is to increase awareness of Ireland among these hugely influential global inbound tour operators and to help Ireland and our tourism partners secure a greater share of the huge worldwide tourism market.”