Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Joe McHugh TD, was in Scotland last week, as part of a ‘Promote Ireland’ programme around St
Patrick’s Day. During his visit, Minister McHugh attended a number of tourism events, including Tourism Ireland’s networking St Patrick’s ‘Tea-Party’, where Irish tourism companies had the opportunity to meet, and do business with, Scottish coach tour operators. Football legend Packie Bonner also attended the ‘Tea-Party’.
Pictured are Linda Duncan, Tourism Ireland; Pat Bourne, Ireland’s Consul General to Scotland; Elaine Murray, Tourism Ireland; Minister Joe McHugh; Fiona Ralph, Consulate General of Ireland; Caroline Mulligan, Tourism Ireland; and football legend Packie Bonner.
The search has begun to find the region in Ireland which has best used its local food potential to grow visitor numbers. Fáilte Ireland, is inviting entries for the EDEN competition, an EU project promoting sustainable tourism development models across the European Union, which is currently being held in 29 member states.
Held every two years, EDEN focusses on a different aspect of tourism each time and this year’s theme is Tourism and Local Gastronomy with the winning destination to receive a promotional photo shoot to market itself as well as €5,000 towards highlighting its attractions. The winning entry will also represent Ireland at a ceremony/exhibition in Brussels later this year.
The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys TD, has welcomed a meeting between officials from Monaghan County Council and Waterways Ireland to discuss the development of off-road cycling and walking facilities along the route of the Ulster Canal between Castle Saunderson and Clones.
Yesterday's meeting looked at how Waterways Ireland could support Monaghan County Council in developing the cycle path and walkway along the Ulster Canal following Minister Humphreys’ recent announcement that she has secured Government approval for the restoration of the Canal from Upper Lough Erne to Castle Saunderson.
Speaking today Minister Humphreys said:
“I am very keen to maximise the positive benefits of the Ulster Canal for the local community, following my recent announcement that I secured Government approval for the restoration of the Ulster Canal from Upper Lough Erne to Castle Saunderson. The development of a cycle path and walkway along the route of the Canal as far as Clones would be a great resource for the local area. Not only would it benefit people living locally in Cavan and Monaghan, it would also be a great boost to the tourism sector in the region.
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A delegation of 35 Irish tourism businesses travelled to Paris to take part in a brand new, B2B tourism event for 2015, Irlande à Paris.
The group is pictured with Caroline Phelan, Tourism Ireland (back, fifth right), and Game of Thrones characters (right), outside the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris, where the new B2B tourism event, Irlande à Paris, took place.
Organised by Tourism Ireland, Irlande à Paris took place in the Irish Cultural Centre and involved two simultaneous workshops and networking events – one targeting group tour operators and travel agents, the other business tourism and MICE (meetings, incentive, conferences and events) buyers. It provided the Irish delegation with the opportunity to meet and do business with more than 250 carefully selected French travel professionals – including leading business tourism buyers, group tour operators and travel agents.
Monica MacLaverty, Tourism Ireland’s head of southern Europe, said: “2014 was a record year for French visitors to Ireland and Tourism Ireland in France is undertaking an extensive programme of promotional activity throughout 2015 – to keep the momentum going and build on that growth. We were delighted that so many influential French travel professionals took the time to come and meet our industry partners at our new event, Irlande à Paris – demonstrating their keen interest in programming the island of Ireland in 2015 and beyond.”
