Great National Abbey Court Hotel Targets German Tourists At B2B Workshop In Offenbach
Twenty-eight (28) Irish tourism companies, including the Great National Abbey Court Hotel in Nenagh, travelled to Offenbach, near Frankfurt recently – to take part in a B2B workshop and networking event with leading German tour operators. The event was organised by Tourism Ireland, in a bid to grow visitor numbers from Germany, our third-largest tourism market, in 2016 and beyond.
Matthias Müller, Great National Abbey Court Hotel and Spa, Nenagh (second left), with Jonathan O’Connor, O’Connor Coaches; Michelle Tighe, Irish Greyhound Board; Eugene Maher, ShannonFerry Group, Killimer, attending Tourism Ireland’s B2B workshop and networking event in Offenbach
The delegation from Ireland met with 25 German, one Swiss and three Austrian tour operators, in a bid to convince the influential travel professionals in attendance to include Kerry and Ireland in their holiday programmes for 2016. Given that travel agents and tour operators continue to be an important booking channel for German holidaymakers, a key element of Tourism Ireland’s strategy is to work closely with the travel trade – both online and offline – in Germany.
Zoë Redmond, Tourism Ireland’s manager for Central Europe, said: “Germany is our third-largest source of visitors and 2015 looks set to be another record year for German visitor numbers to Ireland, with last week’s CSO figures showing an increase of +13% for July to September. Right now, we are planning a busy programme of promotions for 2016, to keep the momentum growing and build on this year’s growth. Our workshop in Offenbach provided an excellent platform to kickstart our promotional effort for 2016 and to highlight the many things to see and do on a holiday in Co Tipperary and Ireland to influential German and Austrian tour operators.”
