Tourism Ireland sets sights on 2025 and beyond with strong presence at world’s largest travel fair

6th November 2024

~ 1,000 meetings over three days at World Travel Market in London set to deliver overseas tourism business worth millions of pounds ~

L-R Rory Martin, Strangford Lough Activity Centre; Clare Foreman, Visit Ards and North Down; and David Wood, Tourism Ireland, at World Travel Market in London. Pic – Malcolm McNally 

Tourism Ireland, together with around 20 tourism businesses from Northern Ireland including Strangford Lough Activity Centre and Visit Ards and North Down, is mounting a significant presence at World Travel Market (WTM) in London this week. WTM is the largest B2B event in the global travel and tourism calendar and heralds the beginning of the island of Ireland’s promotional drive overseas for 2025.

Over the coming days, around 1,000 commercial meetings will be conducted on the Tourism Ireland stand, delivering overseas tourism business for Northern Ireland worth millions of pounds. The tourism businesses from Northern Ireland – from diverse hotels and whiskey distillery experiences to visitor attractions and hidden gems of heritage – will engage in meetings with GB and international tour operators to negotiate and exchange vital contracts for 2025 and beyond, and ultimately bring valuable tourists to Northern Ireland.

Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “Our presence at World Travel Market is extremely important to kick-start our promotional drive overseas for the year ahead. We are delighted to have around 20 tourism companies from Northern Ireland joining us at this year’s WTM, with an estimated 1,000 commercial meetings with international tour operators set to take place. We facilitate connections between the world’s leading tour operators and local tourism businesses across Northern Ireland, helping to connect overseas visitors with fantastic experiences. We are targeting visitors who do more, see more, enjoy more – and therefore spend more – during their time in Northern Ireland, to help tourism businesses across our island thrive.”

Our scenery is a major draw for overseas visitors, so the Tourism Ireland stand at this year’s World Travel Market include a spectacular installation featuring flora and other materials related to the island of Ireland and consists entirely of Irish planting (gorse, heathers etc). The installation is designed by Worm, a floral design studio in East London which is owned by two Irish women.

Tourism Ireland’s message at WTM is that Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland has so much to offer across regions and seasons. The organisation’s aim is to generate demand and target international visitors who do more, see more, enjoy more – and spend more – during their time here, to help tourism businesses thrive.