Fáilte Ireland has confirmed that 335 international business events worth €144 million have been secured for Ireland for future years. The National Tourism Development Authority, in partnership with Tourism Ireland, will be looking to drive these numbers even higher over the coming days at the annual IMEX America event in Las Vegas from October 17th – 19th.
IMEX America is the largest trade show in the US for the global meetings, events and incentive travel industry. Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, together with 36 Irish trade suppliers will profile the very best that Ireland has to offer, to over 4,000 global meeting planners who organise international meetings, incentives, conferences, and events.
A key focus of Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland’s pitch to the global business events community at IMEX America is to showcase Ireland as a sustainable business events destination.
Speaking ahead of IMEX America, Fáilte Ireland’s Head of Commercial Development, Paul Mockler said, “so far 2023 has been a strong year in terms of business events for Ireland with numbers showing we are almost back to 2019 pre-covid levels for face-to-face events. Business events not only have a positive economic impact on a destination, they can also contribute to positive social and environmental impact. An example of this is reflected in the Global Destinations Sustainability Index (GDSI) this year where four Irish business events regions were ranked in the top 40 most sustainable destinations. During IMEX America, we will be looking forward to sharing the progress that Ireland’s events industry is making in working towards more sustainable business events. The pipeline for future business events up to 2032 is looking really strong for Ireland and we’re valuing this pipeline at over €1.2billion.”
David Boyce, Tourism Ireland’s Head of Asia, Middle East and Global Inbound, said, “tradeshows like IMEX America are a vital platform to build awareness of Ireland’s world-class business and conference facilities to international event planners, ensuring Ireland is ‘top of mind’ for them when programming and recommending destinations to their clients in the years ahead. We are looking forward to partnering with Fáilte Ireland and the 36 leading trade suppliers that will join us on the Ireland stand at IMEX America this week.”
Source: Fáilte Ireland