Fáilte Ireland sets ambitious business tourism target Sunday, May 24, 2009 By Nicola Cooke Fáilte Ireland has set a target of growing the business tourism sector in Ireland to €1 billion a year by 2013, despite the economic downturn.
The tourism body is predicting a 10 per cent rise in business tourism this year, up from €584 million last year and €544 million in 2007.The opening of the Convention Centre Dublin (CCD) next year is expected significantly to boost the sector, which accounted for 1.1 million overseas visitors to Ireland last year.
‘‘There is a lot being done behind the scenes to attract business here, and we feel this is a real growth sector for the Irish economy,” said Emma Sweeny, business tourism manager of Fáilte Ireland.
The business tourism unit was set up three years ago and is working with industry groups and hoteliers on initiatives to boost business tourism to Ireland.
Business tourists are worth 25 per cent more than leisure tourists to the economy, and about two thirds of people who visit Ireland for business also holiday here. As well as conference attendees, business tourists include people who travel to Ireland for meetings and people who use company incentive travel bonuses to come to Ireland.
The CCD, which is due to open in the Dublin Docklands in September 2010, can hold up to 8,000 delegates, and has already attracted bookings for 16 conferences. About 90 other bodies are considering the CCD as a venue for their gatherings.
Sweeny said that bidding for a large conference was akin to ‘‘a mini-Olympics bid’’ and needed to be done about three years ahead of the conference. So far this year, Fáilte Ireland has supported 59 international conferences, which drew 45,000 delegates and were worth €54million to the economy.
‘‘We have drawn up a list of 150 US multinationals which are based in Ireland,” Sweeny said. ‘‘We are contacting them from this side - and Tourism Ireland from the US side - to see if they are interested in holding conferences here. We support these financially by paying for site inspections and arranging meetings with professional conference organisers if that’s needed.”
The tourism body has identified 250 potential conference ‘ambassadors’ for Ireland in global associations and is targeting them for business.
‘‘Almost 30 conference ambassadors have been introduced to professional conference organisers here,” Sweeny said. ‘‘In terms of business events being promoted by these new ambassadors, there is a potential for 12,000 delegates and €16.5million in revenue.”
The tourism unit has also set up a website called Inspire Ireland and will soon launch an online section for potential ambassadors. The events being targeted range from the European Dog Show, which will bring 10,000 delegates to the RDS in July, to the Golden Oldies Rugby gathering, which generally attracts between 4,500 and 6,500 delegates.
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