Monday, 1st March 2010

BUSINESS TOURISM – HUGE POTENTIAL FOR IRELAND INC

Ireland Must Redouble Its Marketing Efforts in Business Tourism Arena

Ireland must redouble its marketing efforts in the business tourism arena if it is to secure a greater share of the lucrative international business tourism market, stated Matthew Ryan, President, Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) who today addressed delegates at the IHF’s 72nd Annual Conference in Galway. Mr Ryan states that, while business tourism has been a growth area in recent times, Ireland is still not achieving its true potential in this vital segment of the market, which is valued at over €40billion globally per annum.

Mr Ryan says, “We need to maximise the potential of the Conference Centre Dublin which will open in September and ensure Ireland is to the fore and top of mind when it comes to hosting conferences. We currently secure approximately 1 per cent of the global business tourism market. With the right marketing strategies in place, however, we have the potential to capture a greater share and punch above our weight in this arena.”

According to Mr Ryan, business tourism has the potential to benefit all parts of the country as Ireland’s overall profile for hosting business events is enhanced internationally.  In 2008, a total of 1.1million business tourism visitors were recorded bringing in some €583million in revenue to the country. On average, conference delegates stay in Ireland for a period of one week and spend €1,400 during their time here.

“International delegates are increasingly availing of the opportunity to extend their stay and combine short recreational breaks with business travel and, in many cases, visiting city and regional attractions with partners and family. If we can get our marketing strategies on target, then this could be a significant growth segment that could assist address the fall off in our more mainstream overseas visitors. Our marketing campaigns need to persuade business travellers to stay longer and experience the wealth of attractions and activities we have to offer. This offers enormous potential in a declining overall market where there has historically been an over reliance on domestic tourism,” says Mr Ryan.

The IHF states that the Conference Centre at Spencer Dock in Dublin will be a major addition to Ireland’s business tourism infrastructure, providing delegates with a world class offering.  It maintains that this must be backed up with a world-class international marketing campaign that promotes Ireland as a location for international conferences if it is to add real value to the Irish tourism industry. Already 38 events have been pre-booked, providing over €70 million to the Irish economy. It notes that, with Croke Park, the Aviva Stadium and a host of other high-quality hotel conference centres nationwide, Ireland now has significant assets that should be aggressively promoted at every opportunity.

Mr Ryan notes that a recent Fáilte Ireland survey of conference delegates showed an 89 per cent satisfaction level with Ireland as a conference destination with 8 out of 10 delegates saying they would recommend Ireland as a destination for conferences with 88 per cent saying they would be likely or very likely to recommend Ireland as a holiday or break destination too.  He states, “These levels of satisfaction are very compelling, and we need to harness this to secure growth in this area. When people travel to Ireland for business or conferences they are impressed with all aspects of our offering – so much so that three quarters say they would be likely to revisit Ireland for pleasure in the future.”

“We have the pieces of the jigsaw in place to make a compelling business tourism offering internationally – we have conference centres of excellence; VAT reclaimable on hotel accommodation by business delegates and tremendous value in high quality accommodation in Ireland. We now need to generate increased awareness internationally and raise Ireland’s profile as a special destination for staging conferences,” continues Mr Ryan.

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