A €5m revenue boost will land in Dublin’s lap after the capital secured four major conferences so far this year.
The conferences include a gathering of the World Institute of Pain (2018), the Junior Chambers International European Presidents Meeting (2017) and the World Congress of Psycho Oncology (October 2016).
Welcoming the news, tourism minister Paschal Donohoe said that business tourism is a valuable part of Ireland’s overall tourism product and performs well year on year.
Business tourism industry officials from across the capital gathered in the Conference Centre Dublin last week for an annual briefing from Fáilte Ireland. The tourism authority outlined its plans and targets for the year ahead, noting that business of over €138m was already confirmed for 2016, with a further €53m still in the pipeline.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2016, Miriam Kennedy, head of business tourism with Fáilte Ireland, said: “Last year was a record year for the area of business tourism but our aim is for 2016 to be even more ambitious, with growth of 12% targeted.”
In Association with
In addition to the industry event, a group of top German business and conference buyers arrived in Dublin over the weekend for a whistle-stop tour of the capital, as well as Kilkenny, Wicklow and Kildare.
Convention Centre Win
Separately, the Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) won the Gold M&IT Award for ‘Best Overseas Conference Centre’ for the fifth year in a row.
The announcement was made recently at the 2016 UK Meetings & Incentive Travel (M&IT) Industry Awards in London. The CCD was up against strong competition from five major international convention centres from locations including Berlin and Barcelona.
Speaking about the achievement, Nick Waight, CEO of The CCD, said: “We are thrilled with this award and we're sincerely grateful to all who voted for us.
“Winning this award five times represents a massive endorsement from the UK market, especially given that it was against such tough international competition.”
This award brings the total number of industry gongs that The CCD has received since opening just over five years ago to 32.
