The roadshow – which includes presentations, one-to-one commercial meetings and networking opportunities – is a valuable opportunity for the tourism companies from Ireland to connect with the influential French buyers, to inspire them to choose Ireland for future meetings and incentive travel and to grow Business Events from France.
Business Events – i.e., the corporate meetings, events and incentive travel industry – is recognised as a key driver of economic growth. Business travel is high value and often midweek and off season by its nature, thereby aligning with Tourism Ireland’s strategy to grow overseas tourism revenue outside of the peak summer season.
David Boyce, Tourism Ireland’s Head of Business Events and Luxury, said: “We are delighted that so many key French MICE buyers are taking the time to come and meet with our partners from Ireland in Lyon and Paris. Our aim is to inspire those travel professionals about all that Ireland has to offer their clients.
“Tourism Ireland’s goal is to enable thousands of commercial Business Events meetings – connecting our tourism partners from Ireland with overseas buyers to grow Business Events and support tourism enterprises right across the island. To date in 2024, we have invested around €2.5 million in the area of Business Events and have facilitated over 7,000 commercial meetings. Our French roadshow this week is another valuable platform for our partners from Ireland to showcase and sell their products and services, to ensure they win a greater share of the buyers’ business in 2025 and beyond.”
‘Meet in Ireland’ is the official MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events) brand for the island of Ireland, comprising Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland, who work in partnership to promote the island of Ireland as a leading business events destination.