The group, guests of Tourism Ireland, Cathay Pacific and Tourism NI, includes representatives of some of the biggest travel agencies in Australia, including Hello World and Flight Centre. The group flew from Auckland to Dublin with Cathay Pacific – on its new one-stop service to the island of Ireland, which began in June this year.
Their busy programme includes a tour of Titanic Belfast, lunch in the Crown Bar, a black taxi tour and a guided walking tour of Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter. They then travelled to Dublin to see Trinity College, the Guinness Storehouse and watch Ireland take on the All Blacks at the Aviva Stadium.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to showcase Belfast to this group of top New Zealand travel agents,” said Darragh Walshe, Tourism Ireland’s Manager New Zealand.
“There is really no substitute for being able to come here and experience what Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland have to offer at first-hand. As we prepare for 2019, our aim is that when these travel agents return home, they will be better informed and really enthusiastic about the destination, which will in turn help to secure a greater share of their business for Northern Ireland.”
The island of Ireland has seen good growth in visitors from Australia and New Zealand over the past few years, with around 228,000 visiting from both countries in 2017. Tourism Ireland continues to roll out an extensive programme of promotions, to grow business in the shoulder and off-season months and to position us well for 2019.
