## Northern Ireland’s Economy Minister Champions Tourism at ‘Flavours of Ireland’ Event in London
This week, Northern Ireland’s Economy Minister Conor Murphy took center stage at Tourism Ireland’s renowned ‘Flavours of Ireland’ event in London. This annual gathering serves as a crucial platform for promoting the island’s tourism offerings to influential global tour operators, who play a vital role in bringing visitors from around the world to Irish shores.
Now in its 22nd year, the ‘Flavours’ workshop brought together a dynamic mix of 60 tourism businesses from across Ireland, eager to connect with approximately 100 inbound tour operators, primarily based in London. These operators facilitate travel from diverse regions, including the United States, mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia, and Africa. The significance of this event is evident in the sheer scale of its influence – with the largest tour operator alone contributing an impressive 80,000 visitors to the island annually.
The ‘Flavours’ workshop provides a unique opportunity for these tour operators to plan itineraries, meticulously identifying the regions and communities they will showcase. As they prepare to finalize contracts for 2025 and beyond, this event serves as a pivotal moment to influence the integration of new tourism offerings into their packages. This strategic approach can significantly boost regional tourism and encourage longer stays, benefiting both local communities and the overall Irish tourism sector.
The event facilitated approximately 660 business meetings, setting the stage for a surge in tourism to the island of Ireland in 2025 and the years to come. Minister Murphy, emphasizing the critical role tourism plays in Ireland’s economy, stated: “Tourism is incredibly important to Ireland’s economy. The Flavours of Ireland event builds upon this success by promoting our island to influential global tour operators. I’m delighted to be here to support local companies from right across the north who are helping to showcase our fantastic tourism offering.”
Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, echoed this sentiment, highlighting the event’s key objectives: “Tourism Ireland runs our Flavours of Ireland event to increase awareness of the island of Ireland among influential global inbound tour operators and to secure a greater share of the global travel market. We are delighted to connect inspiring local tourism businesses from across the island of Ireland with global tour operators, who build itineraries to sell overseas for the coming years. Over 600 commercial meetings take place at our Flavours of Ireland workshop. Local tourism businesses attending offer diverse experiences, from boat trips to cathedrals and castles, from gardens and distilleries to tea tours, from places to stay to ways to travel and regions to explore. “We are delighted to be joined by the Economy Minister for Northern Ireland, Conor Murphy, who is supporting local businesses in bringing to life the tourism opportunity in Northern Ireland.”