A taste of Kildare at ‘Flavours of Ireland’ event in London

Tourism Ireland’s ‘Flavours of Ireland’ event took place in London this week – connecting Irish tourism businesses with leading global inbound tour operators who deliver visitors at scale to Ireland from all over the world.

Now in its 22nd year, ‘Flavours’ is an annual Tourism Ireland workshop – where 60 tourism companies from across Ireland, including Irish National Stud and Gardens, Kildare Village and Newbridge Silverware Visitor Centre, met and did business with around 100 global inbound tour operators, who’re mainly based in London and who deliver business from all over the world, including the United States, Mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa.

The largest of the tour operators attending brings around 80,000 visitors to Ireland each year and events like ‘Flavours’ help them set itineraries, determining the regions and communities that they bring visitors to. The tour operators are preparing to sign contracts for 2025 and beyond, so it’s a key time to influence the addition of new tourism products to their programmes that have the potential to deliver more regional and longer-stay business for Ireland. Around 660 commercial meetings were conducted at the event, which will, in turn, deliver business for Ireland from around the world in 2025 and beyond. 

Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “Tourism Ireland runs our Flavours of Ireland event to increase awareness 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 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.”