Pitching Kerry as an events destination

EVENT planners from across the UK and US have enjoyed “experimental weekends in Kerry” in recent weeks, taking in the best of the county’s facilities, venues, accommodation and more.

Hosted by the Kerry Convention Bureau, the events were a bid to enhance Kerry’s profile as a destination for events and conferences.

A group of overseas event planners enjoyed such attractions as boat trips from Ross Castle to the Europe Hotel; a tour of the Dingle Distillery and the peninsula as a whole; the jaunting cars of Killarney; the Ring of Kerry; a Gary Barlow concert at the INEC; and Muckross Traditional Farms in recent weeks.

“Kerry is a spectacular place to inspire, engage and motivate business tourism delegates” said KCB Chair Mike Buckley. “Whether it’s an association or corporate meeting or a high-end incentive, we offer unrivalled facilities in idyllic locations throughout our region.

“As a business tourism destination, you won’t find another conference or incentive destination that marries professionalism and cutting-edge technology with such rich cultural history, spectacular natural scenery and abundance of activities,” he added.

Over the last five years, Kerry has hosted some 400 meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibition events, welcoming more than 120,000 visitors from 25 countries.

Among these was the TBEX Europe So- cial Media conference, which brought more than 650 travel bloggers to the county, thus generating more than 5billion impressions on Twitter.

“Business Tourism continues to be one of the most lucrative forms of tourism, with visitors travelling to Ireland for business purposes spending almost three times more than the average visitor,” Fáilte Ireland ‘Meet in Ireland’ Manager Ciara Gallagher said.

“That’s why we provide support and funding for convention bureaus across the country, including Kerry Convention Bureau, and host trips like this to show buyers first-hand why Ireland is a leading business events and meetings destination.

“Our trip to Kerry not only showcased the region’s world-class hospitality and scenery, it familiarised the buyers with the sector leading tourism, manufacturing, food technology and financial services businesses that Kerry is home to.

“I have no doubt that they will have countless reasons to sell Kerry and Ireland as top destination to their clients.”

Members of the Kerry Convention Group with a FAM group on a visit to Killarney.