Members of the French Marketing Partnership Group (MPG) are visiting Ireland’s Ancient East this week, as guests of Tourism Ireland.
The MPG is made up of leading French tour operators, as well as air and sea carriers, and is the official vehicle for consulting with tourism partners in France. As well as acting as a fact-finding trip to Ireland, their visit was an excellent opportunity for Tourism Ireland to introduce Ireland’s Ancient East to senior travel representatives from France.
The group spent time in Co Meath, where they had a meeting in the Headfort Arms Hotel in Kells. They visited Loughcrew and enjoyed an electric bike tour of the farm at Slane Castle with Countess Carina Mount Charles. They also took part in a networking evening with Irish tourism companies at Tankardstown House Hotel.
Monica MacLaverty, Tourism Ireland’s manager of southern Europe, said: “We are delighted that the members of the French Marketing Partnership Group have taken the time to come to Ireland. Tourism Ireland invited this group of senior travel industry representatives here to showcase Ireland’s Ancient East. We believe this exciting new tourism experience has great potential among French travellers, particularly for our ‘culturally curious’ audience.
“France is one of the top four markets for tourism to Ireland and we have seen really good growth in French visitors numbers again this year, with the latest CSO figures showing an increase of +4% for June to August. We are determined to ensure that tourism growth continues. We have a really extensive autumn campaign in full swing right now – aimed at boosting late-season travel to Ireland from France and elsewhere around the globe.”
