Jayne Shackleford and Tanya Warren of Tourism Ireland with Dermot O'Neil of Abbey Tours
Carol Hinch of Ballynahinch Castle Hotel & Estate
Oyster shucker extraordinaire Patrick McMurray, owner of The Ceili Cottage which Shackleford calls 'the best Irish pub in Toronto'
It must be the luck of the Irish! After yet more weeks of sub-zero days, the delegation from the Emerald Isle brought temps of 12â° under glorious sunny skies as they hosted their annual Appreciation Luncheon. Bring out the green bikinis!
Held at the city’s uber-cool TIFF Bell Lightbox, the event featured very Irish treats such as oysters, smoked salmon and Guinness-braised veal – and a hospitable pre-lunch whiskey tasting courtesy of Jamesons (presumably for those brave souls who didn’t have to actually work in the afternoon).
Well, why not? After all, our Irish hosts, including 8 tour operators and hoteliers, had much to celebrate. According to Tourism Ireland’s Manager for Canada, Jayne Shackleford, figures from Canada are way up. “2013 was a record year for Canadian visits,” she told the crowd. “We were up 11%, to 134 thousand visitors.” No doubt, a lot of that was due to The Gathering, a nation-wide series of homecoming events and festivals geared to people of Irish descent around the world.
However the Irish are not folks to rest on their laurels (their shamrocks?). Big news for this year includes the official opening of The Wild Atlantic Way, a 2,500 km driving route up the west coast, being promoted as a wild and rugged step off the traditional tourist trail. Limerick is being touted as Ireland’s City of Culture this year. And Game of Thrones fans are flocking to the hugely-successful HBO series’ set locations across Northern Ireland.
Most impressive news for us is that for the 1st time, Ireland will have year-round lift from Canada. Air Canada Rouge service will be complemented by WestJet’s 1st European route YYZ-YYT-DUB – which is seeing “huge interest” from Atlantic Canada, according to Shackleford.
Looking to increase your sales to Ireland? Good to know that 4.4 million Canadians claim Irish ancestry, with 2.2 million of those from Northern Ireland. The typical 1st time Canadian visitors travel as a couple, are aged 35+, are well-educated and have a household income of $75,000+. Ireland calls them “Sightseers and Culture Seekers”.
I call them plain lucky to choose Ireland for their vacation – lovely people, stunning scenery, great food and above all a warm welcome. As Shackleford said, “We’re nosy people – we love to chat with our visitors and find out more about them.”
