News

Monaghan agency takes top Gong

Atlantic Travel and Tour America were crowned ITAA Travel Agencies of the Year 2020 at the annual Irish Travel Industry Awards in association with The Travel Corporation . The awards gala took place in the e Mansion House, Dublin, and was attended by over 500 travel and tourism professionals from around the world. itia0120

Atlantic Travel, which is based in Monaghan, won the title of ITAA Travel Agency of Year 2020 with under ten employees, whilst Tour America was crowned the ITAA Travel Agency of Year 2020 with over ten employees. Both of the winning agencies were praised for their stand-out customer service, their first-rate expertise and the wide range of travel options available to customers.

Other big winners on the night included Atlas Travel and FCM who won Best ITAA Corporate Travel Agency, CaminoWays who won Best ITAA Member Digital Marketing Campaign, and J. Barter Travel who won Best ITAA General Marketing Campaign. Siobhan Byrne Learat of Adams & Butler won Best ITAA Travel Professional. Marie Grenham, Managing Director of Grenham Travel was the recipient of the ITAA Presidents’ Award for special contributions to the Irish Travel Industry.

VAT tops RAI List

A cut in the VAT rate back to 9 per cent tops the Restaurants Association of Ireland’s list of 10 “asks” ahead of the general election.

The RAI also called on parties and candidates to commit to “immediate” reform of the insurance sector, address skills cummins0120

shortages and promise not to force independent restaurants to publish calories on menus.

The association’s chief executive, Adrian Cummins, said action was needed to stem the “staggering” rate of restaurant closure across Ireland.

“My members are crying out for help to save their businesses and livelihoods, and no one is listening,” he said.

Group meets as Brexit looms

Brexit remains a major concern among tourism businesses according to Fáilte Ireland. With eight days to go before the UK formally leaves the EU on January 31st, the National brexit0120

Tourism Development Authority convened a meeting of its Industry Brexit Advisory Group at its headquarters in Dublin.

The Group was established by Fáilte Ireland in 2017 to help prepare the industry to be Brexit-ready. CEOs and senior representatives from businesses and organisations working across the tourism industry gathered to discuss their concerns and plan the next steps in dealing with the impact of Brexit on the tourism sector.

“The meeting of the Brexit Advisory Group focused on the impact that Brexit is having now on the tourism industry and on our shared and agreed plans for 2020,” stated Jenny De Saulles, Fáilte Ireland’s Director of Sector Development.

Hong Kong flights to resume

Cathay Pacific will resume Dublin-Hong Kong flights at the end of March, the airline confirmed. cathay

Cathay shelved the service in November after fierce pro-democracy protests sent the number of people travelling to the island tumbling by 40 per cent in August.

The airline said on Thursday that the four-times a-week service from Dublin to Hong Kong would resume on March 28th.

In a bid to boost interest in the service, Cathay will begin a “flash sale” offering cut-price fares from the Republic’s capital to various Asian and Australian destinations from Friday.

Launched in June 2018, Cathay’s was the first direct service from the Republic to any part of China.

Cvent partners HSMAI

Cvent, a market-leading meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider has announced its partnership with HSMAI (the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International) Region Europe. Through the two-year partnership, Cvent will provide its world-class solutions to power more than 75 small and big events organised by the Association in Europe. The bigger HSMAI events include the HSMAI Meeting and Event Exchange and their Awards at Scandic Fornebu Hotel in Norway, and the Annual HSMAI Europe ROC and their HSMAI Awards; this year at The Savoy Hotel in London on Tuesday 28th January.

HSMAI Region Europe will utilise Cvent’s comprehensive technology platform including:

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