Tourism Ireland has announced the appointment of Louise Finnegan as Head of Business Partnership. Louise will be responsible fo

r Tourism Ireland’s co-operative access programme with air and sea carriers, ports and airports, as well as the organisation’s business partnership activities with Fáilte Ireland and Tourism NI, as well as island of Ireland-based tourism industry operators and overseas travel trade.

 

A native of Dublin, Louise has considerable experience in international business and marketing, having held a number of senior roles in the telecoms sector, spanning six different countries across four continents. In her capacity as CEO of a Tier-3 mobile network operator in the United States, she was responsible for strategic plan development, leadership of the executive team, operational planning, budget management and board-level presentations. A key element of this role was in-depth negotiations with financial institutions, as well as direct engagement with stakeholders at local, state and federal government levels. This experience provided her with excellent insight and experience in dealing with large, non-government organisations, public bodies and private institutions in multi-cultural environments. In 2010, Louise co-founded a boutique travel business in Panama, providing high end, customised travel to Central and South America. It was this experience that sparked Louise’s interest in the travel and tourism sector.

 

Commenting on the appointment, Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons said: “I am delighted to welcome Louise Finnegan to Tourism Ireland and this key strategic role, following an extensive external competition. Louise brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience in international business and marketing and a very strong track record of achievement. She takes up this important role of Director of Business Partnership at an exciting and challenging time, as we seek to build on the success of a number of record years for overseas tourism to the island of Ireland.”

 

Louise said: “This is a fantastic role and an exciting opportunity. I look forward to playing my part in continuing to grow overseas tourism to the island of Ireland and to working closely with our partners, and the great Tourism Ireland team already in place, to help deliver growth.”

 

Louise takes up her new post on 10 July 2017.