Businesses from Clare were part of the nearly 200 tourism professionals from around Ireland who attended the first national tourism event of the year in Limerick’s Thomond Park recently.
Tina O’Dwyer, organiser of the ‘Tourism Space Live’ from County Clare event said: “We were delighted with this year’s turnout, which was significantly up on last year. It’s only the second year in existence and the event sold out. We believe it is likely to be the best attended tourism conference in the country over the autumn/winter season.”
There was a strong representation from Clare at the event with representatives from the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geo Park, Ailwee Cave, Doolin 2 Aran Ferries, Scattery Island Tours, Shannon Heritage, the Falls Hotel, Woodstock Hotel, Burren Eco Tourism Network, Clare County Council, Clare Local Development Company and the Ennis Chamber.
Attendees also came from all over Ireland. Areas included Galway, Sligo, Dublin, Donegal, Wexford, Wicklow, Tipperary, Carlow, Kilkenny, Kerry, Cork, Kildare, Mayo, Longford, Derry & Armagh.
The one day event included sessions on business, self-empowerment, professional development and sustainability. Limerick City & County Council supported the event for the second year in a row and were joined by AIB this year as a main event sponsor, as well as Fáilte Ireland.
Feedback from the event illustrated that attendees valued hearing the “personal stories of resilience and triumph from people who live and work in the industry” was one of the aspects of the event that they most valued. Networking and learning new business skills were also rated as important to delegates.
Ms O’Dwyer said: “We wanted to shine a light on the achievements and challenges that face business owners and managers who work in the tourism and hospitality industry and the strong attendance shows that there is a real appetite in the sector for this type of event.”
She said that plans are already underway to make the ‘Tourism Space Live’, an annual event in Limerick and for it to be listed as one of Ireland’s premier national tourism fixtures.
The Tourism Space offers regular training and coaching programmes to tourism businesses throughout Ireland. The next two events are ‘Sustainability Leadership Program’ a group programme that runs over a six-week period, starting on the 17th February, followed by a two day residential ‘Business Bootcamp’ on the 27th and 28th February. For more information go to www.thetourismspace.com