Visit Cork to hold first in-person Tourism Industry Day of year

Tue, 08 Feb, 2022 - 12:20

Rory Noonan

VISIT Cork, the official tourism body for the Cork region, is hosting an in-person briefing for everyone involved in the tourism industry on tomorrow, Thursday, at Fota Island Resort Hotel.

The event is to be addressed by An Taoiseach Micheal Martin who will join virtually to offer his support to the wider tourism industry in Cork. This is the first in-person tourism briefing to take place in Cork since March 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions. Visit Cork has continued to communicate with the tourism industry throughout the pandemic, most notably running online familiarisation sessions which attracted weekly audiences of up to 100 attendees.

However, tomorrow’s event is a welcome break from meeting virtually and will be a great opportunity to hear about recovery plans from key industry stakeholders.

Anyone involved in tourism, or in attracting visitors to Cork, is invited to attend the Tourism Industry Day, from accommodation and experience providers to festival and event organisations.

Attendees will gain an insight into Visit Cork’s achievements over the past two years and recovery plans for leisure tourism (Pure Cork) and business tourism (Cork Convention Bureau). They will be joined by their partners in Fáilte Ireland and Cork Airport.

It promises to be a highly interactive, dynamic session with an opening address from Gerard O’Mahoney, chair of Visit Cork; Seamus Heaney, head of Visit Cork; Evelyn O’Sullivan, manager of Cork Convention Bureau; Sam Johnson, manager Convention Bureaux of Ireland; Brian O’Flynn, head of Ireland’s Ancient East and Brian Gallagher, head of Aviation and Commercial Business Development Cork Airport.

It’s also a fantastic opportunity to network with industry colleagues once again.

Commenting on the industry event, Seamus Heaney, head of Visit Cork, said: “Tourism has had an unbelievably difficult time over the last two years and now more than ever we need to ensure the correct supports are in place to facilitate the recovery. “We encourage everyone involved in the tourism industry in Cork to attend our Visit Cork Industry Day and explore how they can work with Pure Cork and Cork Convention Bureau to enhance their business and help collectively promote all that Cork has to offer to domestic and international business and leisure visitors.”

The Visit Cork Industry Day will take place from 10am-12.30pm, with registration and refreshments from 9.30am. It is an open invitation to any individual or business involved in tourism in Cork (city and county).