Northern Ireland is in the spotlight in the Netherlands and Belgium this week, as Tourism Ireland hosts its annual B2B travel trade workshops in Amsterdam and Brussels.
The Netherlands is an important market for tourism to Northern Ireland, with direct flights from Amsterdam to Belfast, operated by KLM and easyJet. Tourism Ireland works closely with both airlines, to help drive demand for the flights among Dutch holidaymakers. Flights run throughout the year and air seat capacity increased by +36% this summer.
Tourism companies from across Northern Ireland, from chocolate making experiences and outdoor activity providers to visitor attractions and hidden gems of heritage, are joining Tourism Ireland at the workshops this week. They will engage in meetings with Dutch and Belgian travel professionals, to inspire them to extend the content of their existing programmes and itineraries, or to include the destination for the first time in their 2026 programmes. Around 400 commercial meetings will be conducted over the two days, inspiring fresh itineraries, ensuring Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland features strongly in future programmes and delivering valuable overseas tourism business for the island in 2026 and beyond.
Karen van der Horst, Tourism Ireland’s Manager for Northern Europe, said: “I’m delighted that our valued Dutch and Belgian travel partners are taking the time to meet with us in Amsterdam and Brussels this week, finding out more about the richness of our tourism offering. The Netherlands is an important market for tourism to Northern Ireland, with direct flights from Amsterdam to Belfast, operated by KLM and easyJet. Tourism Ireland works closely with both airlines, to help drive demand for the flights among Dutch holidaymakers.
“Our goal is simple: to create meaningful connections between businesses from Northern Ireland with Dutch and Belgian travel professionals who can bring visitors at scale.”
