Waterford Tourism Attractions Attend Worlds Largest Travel Fair
Emma O’Brien, Mount Congreve Gardens and Waterford Treasures, and Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive Designate of Tourism Ireland, at World Travel Market in London.
Waterford tourism attractions were represented at the World Travel Market event which took place recently in London.
The world’s largest travel fair, the event was a showcase event for countries to promote their best tourism offerings to the world.
According to Tourism Ireland, overseas tourism to Ireland is continuing to rebound in the first year post-pandemic limitations
Overseas tourism to Ireland continues to rebound in the wake of the pandemic and air access to Ireland is up, including from two of the island’s biggest source markets, Great Britain and North America.
Hotel occupancy is also ahead of 2019 levels, albeit with the caveat that the industry is operating in a new reality, with 13 per cent of rooms under contract for humanitarian reasons.
As Tourism Ireland prepares for 2024, the organisation mounted a significant presence at World Travel Market (WTM) in London with around 75 tourism companies from Ireland on its stand including representatives of Mount Congreve Gardens and Waterford Treasures. Around 2,800 meetings were conducted on the Ireland stand, delivering overseas tourism business for Ireland next year worth millions of euro. Tourism Ireland brought together Irish tourism providers who have more capacity to welcome visitors with international tour operators with the skills and scale to bring valuable tourists to the island.
The London event marked the beginning of the promotional drive overseas for 2024 and was the largest B2B event in the global travel and tourism calendar.
Speaking about the event, Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive Designate of Tourism Ireland, said: “As we look to 2024, our presence at World Travel Market is really important to kick-start our promotional drive overseas. In our first full year post pandemic, every tourism business is eager for recovery. When we talk to tourism operators across Ireland, we know that overseas tourism is playing a vital role.”
She expressed delight at having around 75 tourism companies from Ireland at the event.
“We facilitate connections between the world’s leading tour operators and diverse tourism businesses across Ireland, helping introduce overseas visitors to delightful experiences on our island and strengthening the spread of the economic and social benefits that tourism brings,” said Alice.
Tourism Ireland’s message at WTM was that Ireland has much to offer across regions and seasons. The organisation showcased iconic reasons to travel to Ireland, expanding people’s bucket lists from best-known spots to the country’s hidden gems.
Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of the Wild Atlantic Way, providing Tourism Ireland with another great hook to showcase the iconic route. Next year, Tourism Ireland will also dial up its ‘Ireland, Home of Halloween’ message, celebrating Ireland as the birthplace of one of the world’s most celebrated festivals, and ultimately growing Halloween in Ireland to be an iconic ‘must do’ in the shoulder season.
Tourism Ireland brought a sensory burst of nature to WTM this year, with a spectacular wildflower installation and an interactive area to listen to the sounds of nature on its stand. The installation consisted entirely of Irish planting and was designed by Worm, a floral design studio in East London, owned by two Irish women. Visitors to the stand also enjoyed the ‘sounds of Ireland’ which included the soothing sounds of the sea, forests, cosy pubs and the spoken word from some of our best-loved poets.
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