Dublin nets conference wins worth €27m

EUROPE – Tourism chiefs in Dublin have hailed a string of conference business wins. Miriam Kennedy, head of Business Tourism with Fáilte Ireland, said 51 national events snared by the Irish capital between 2016 and 2019 will add to 20,000 international business tourists already scheduled to come to Ireland. She said the business is worth more than €27m over the next five years Recent wins for Dublin are the Social Media and Critical Care (SMACC) Conference, attracting 2,000 delegates to the Dublin Convention Centre in June 2016, and The Network for the Advancement of Transfusion Alternatives (NATA) Annual Symposium, taking place in the RDS next year and bringing 700 delegates. Other conferences include the International Air Transport Association (IATA) AGM which is scheduled for June 2016 in the RDS and will bring 1,200 delegates, and the tenth Congress of European Violence in Clinical Psychiatry, which will take place on 26 – 28 October 2017 at the Crowne Plaza, Santry and will cater for 550 delegates. Miriam Kennedy said: “The average business traveller tends to spend two or three times as much as a holidaymaker, thereby making this sector a lucrative market to target. As well as providing an important revenue source for many hotels and venues in Dublin, and across Ireland who cater for such large events, this activity sustains and grows tourism businesses throughout the year and, particularly outside the summer season. “While we are already ahead of target for 2015, it is important to us that we do not rest on our laurels but rather we continue to push the envelope making our supports as relevant and as easy to access as possible.”