TOURISM PROVIDERS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY GATHERED FOR THE ANNUAL CROSS BORDER CONFERENCE
The theme ‘ Learn from the Best’ captured the essence of the cross border tourism conference held against the scenic backdrop of Carlingford last week.
Over 200 delegates from all over Ireland attended the event at the Four Seasons Hotel, which examined not only the challenges facing the sector, but also the opportunities to develop tourism offerings around the region.
The event brought expert speakers together from various tourism projects from around Ireland.
A spokeswoman for Dundalk Chamber said the event featured ‘speakers who are leaders in their field of tourism provision, giving an overview of their own tourism success stories.
‘ They outlined to the delegates that they too could emulate their success, and create a format to revitalise their own tourism offering.’
The event gave practical tips to delegates on how to improve their tourism business so that they could increase their sales and boost attendance figures at their attraction
Karen Henderson of the ‘Visit Derry’ campaign spoke about here experience of ‘Marketing Derry as a tourism destination and the impact festivals have on the city.
Colm Brehney of Failte Ireland led a discussion on sharing the benefits of ‘Irelands Ancient East and how it can help grow your business.’
Michael Collins of Travel Media highlighted the importance of SEO for Travel and Tourism Content Marketing which was very topical.
Siobhan McGuigan of Type AB Consultancy spoke about the growing popularity of the Belfast Christmas Market and the campaign ‘Keeping It Fresh’ which has helped ensure the sustainability of the markets.
Gavin and Sarah Mackie of Larchfield Estate told their story on how they created a new market by being different from their competitors.
The final speaker was Sammy Leslie who was very entertaining and told her story of the Castle Leslie Estate and its family.
Dundalk Chamber’s incoming President, Pat McCormick said he was ‘delighted with the superb line up of speakers who all have a wonderful story to help and their experience is bound to help local tourism providers.’
There were over 38 stands exhibiting a range of tourism based ‘product lines’ on the day.
The conference also featured a Tourism Advisory Clinic with exhibits from, Local Enterprise Office Louth, Southern Regional College, Employability Service Louth and Eures Cross Border Partnership.
Anyone who would like to join the Tourism Committee of Dundalk Chamber should get in touch with Brenda on Tel: 353 (42) 9336343 or email Brenda@dundalk.ie
The Committee meet every two months and work on a number of tourism issues and is made up of tourism providers from all over Louth.
The conference was sponsored by The Local Enterprise Office Louth, The Four Seasons Hotel Carlingford, The Marshes Shopping Centre and Louth County Council.