Tag Archives: tourism ireland

Tourism Ireland will conduct a webinar today at 4.30 pm with an interesting line-up of suppliers. Siobhán Naughton, its Marketing & Trade Executive (ME & Asia), says, “We will showcase fantastic accommodation offerings, amazing landscapes, and activities that are waiting to be enjoyed. To sign up, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Tourism Ireland India will have four Irish suppliers as part of its webinar today at 3.30pm IST to discuss Ireland’s offerings and its safety guidelines. Huzan Fraser Motivala, its India Representative, says, “We have an interesting line-up of Irish hotels, attractions and tours.” Contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

The Indian travel trade welcomed nine companies from Ireland during Tourism Ireland’s India Sales Mission that concluded recently. Its aim was to facilitate the Irish industry to engage with Indian travel professionals who are currently selling the island of Ireland, or who have strong potential to sell the destination and to position Ireland as one of the most desirable destinations for travellers from India. Business links between tourism companies from Ireland and influential travel professionals in India were strengthened during the sales mission, through a busy programme of workshops, presentations and networking events. Siobhan McManamy, Director of Markets, Tourism Ireland said, “Our sales mission is a key element of our promotional programme in India. It will give our tourism partners a platform to inform and influence the Indian travel trade about what the island of Ireland has to offer and, importantly, encourage them to include the destination in their brochures and programmes. Tourism Ireland is committed to growing visitor numbers to the island of Ireland from India and our sales mission will play a significant role in helping us achieve this goal.” The workshops were held in Mumbai and Delhi with over 100 leading travel agents and tour operators in attendance. The companies who were represented at the event include Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Northern Ireland, Guinness Storehouse, Winterfell Castle – Game of Thrones Visitor Attraction, Stena Line, Hotel Solutions, The Savoy Hotel, Andras House Group and Irish Rugby Tours.  

Tourism Ireland has partnered with Cricket Ireland and the Embassy of Ireland to promote the T20 International series between India and Ireland to be held in Malahide, Dublin. With the first T20 international match underway, the second will be held on June 29. The Indian team will show its wonders on Irish soil for the first time in over a decade, since they played an ODI in Belfast back in 2007. The match will be streamed on Sony Six at 8.30 pm IST. An interesting turning point to this tournament is the presence of the iconic cricket star Ajay Jadeja as the commentator for the matches. During his stay in Dublin, Jadeja will have the opportunity to tour around the elegant city and experience the best of the Irish hospitality. He will visit the famous iconic attractions like Malahide Castle, Ha Penny Bridge, Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens, Guinness Store House and Kilkenny Castle. Speaking on the occasion, HE Brian McElduff, Ambassador of Ireland to India, said, “This is the first-ever initiative where Tourism Ireland and Cricket Ireland have joined hands to celebrate the beautiful game of cricket and promote Ireland. We are proud to be a part of this significant event and hope this occasion will further strengthen the relationship between the two countries.” Tickets for the matches are available on TicketMaster. Further details are also available on the official Cricket Ireland.

Trafalgar will host its inaugural Trafalgar Europe Britain Day as part of its efforts to provide agents a way to learn about travel destinations in Europe and Britain like an insider. It will partner with four European tourism offices in this first-of-its kind showcase exclusively for the trade in India. Atout France, Tourism Ireland, Tourism Office of Spain and Switzerland Tourism together with Trafalgar will present the iconic sites of the respective countries. Trafalgar’s ‘Insider Sessions’ will take place on February 7 in Mumbai and on February 9 in Bengaluru. Nicholas Lim, President, Trafalgar, Asia, says, “We want to help agents to grow their business by showcasing the diversity of Europe and the opportunities around it. We’re delighted to launch our Insider Sessions and in 2018, it’s time to travel to Europe with Trafalgar and live The Good Life. Agents who participate in these sessions will be eligible to win a grand prize of a nine-day ‘Spanish Experience’ holiday sponsored by Trafalgar. There will be two grand prizes given away – one for each city.”

Tourism Ireland conducted its India Sales Mission 2017 in Mumbai and Delhi where 12 representatives from the destination interacted with over 100 leading travel agents and tour operators in each city to update them about the new offerings in Ireland. Ireland is promoting the locations where the famous movie- Star Wars and Game of Thrones television series has been shot. “Almost 70 per cent of Game of Thrones has been shot in Northern Ireland and Star Wars been shot in West Ireland. We feel these on-screen products have a good resonance in India and will drive growth to Ireland,” says Huzan Frazer Motivala, Representative-India, Tourism Ireland. David Boyce, Head-Developing Markets, Tourism Ireland, informed that Ireland recorded over 40,000 Indian arrivals up till August 2017, registering a 34 per cent growth over last year during the same period. The destination hopes to see this number touch 50,000 over the next 2-3 years. Boyce said, “These figures are not our official numbers as we get them only by the year end. However, these have been received from the destinations that Indians visit in Ireland and thus are proof to believe that the growth is robust.”

Tourism Ireland in association with Etihad Airways hosted top 10 travel agents from across India to Ireland’s largest tourism trade fair, Meet the Buyer and Mietheal 2017, which was organized by Tourism Ireland. Huzan Fraser Motivala, India Representative, Tourism Ireland who accompanied the group for this key trade fair said “India is an important developing market for Tourism Ireland and one that we are committed to growing. We have been seeing a steady growth of 12-15 % in Indian visitor arrival numbers to the island of Ireland. “The Irish Visa Applications YTD 16 have also seen a 33% increase in visa applications compared to the same period last year. Factors in our favour include increased air access to Ireland, particularly by Etihad Airways and Emirates via the Middle East. Qatar Airways will be launching an additional flight starting June 2017, which we believe will further aid connectivity.  We hope that this FAM trip will help the travel trade to create customized itineraries to promote Ireland to their clients. Going forward, we will look to organize more such activities through 2017 and are confident of witnessing a growth in the number of Indian visitors to Ireland.” The workshop brought together over 310 overseas buyers and 455 Irish tourism businesses for three days of negotiating business deals. There were approximately 12,000 face to face meetings organised over the duration of this event – allowing international and Irish operators to meet and agree business for the 2017-2018 seasons. India is one key emerging market for Ireland and we see great potential from this region. In the last few years there has been greater interest and numbers being generated from the India as more …

Ireland witnessed a growth of 20 per cent in the number of visas issued to Indians travelling to the destination. This was revealed by Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive, Tourism Ireland, at their sales mission in Mumbai and New Delhi. Gibbons informed that the destination witnessed 27,500 Indian tourist arrivals in 2015, corresponding to 14 per cent increase over 2014. Also, the total number of tourist arrivals from January to August, 2016, was up by 12.3 per cent with 6.55 million people visiting the destination during this period. “With Northern Island also a part of Ireland, we expect to have 10 million visitors by the end of 2016 with a double digit growth. Our traditional markets are Great Britain, North America, Germany and France, comprising 70 per cent of the tourism business but we feel the potential of India as a market is huge for Ireland. The number of visa applications for Indian nationals has seen a growth of over 20 per cent and the BIVS scheme has also facilitated many Indian visits. We have interacted with over 150 companies in New Delhi alone,” said Gibbons. He also added that Tourism Ireland is committed to grow visitor numbers to Ireland from India and the sales mission will play a significant role in helping to achieve this goal. “Our sales mission is a key element of our promotional programme in India. It will give our tourism partners a platform to inform, influence the Indian travel trade about what the island of Ireland has to offer and importantly encourage them to include the destination in their brochures and programmes,” he said.

Tourism Ireland hosted eight key Indian travel trade agents to Ireland’s largest tourism trade fair, Meitheal 2016. Organised by Tourism Ireland, the workshop brought together over 310 overseas buyers and 455 Irish tourism businesses for two days of negotiating business deals. Nearly 12,000 face to face meetings were organised between the buyers and sellers for the 2017 season. Huzan Fraser Motivala, India Representative, Tourism Ireland, said, “India is an important market for Tourism Ireland and one that we are committed to growing. Over the last five years, we have seen a year-on-year increase of over 25 per cent in Indian visitor arrival numbers to the island of Ireland.” She also informed that the Irish Visa Applications (year to date 2016) have also seen a 43 per cent increase in visa applications compared to the same period last year. Some of the factors in favour of this growth can be identified as increased air access to Ireland, particularly by Etihad Airways and Emirates via the Middle East and the British Irish Visa Scheme (BIVS) which has made it easier for tourists from India who are visiting Great Britain to also visit Ireland, without the cost or hassle of applying for a separate visa.