February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Harrty Keaney
The most extensive trade promotion ever undertaken for Irish tourism will be staged from Jan. 24 through Feb. 4 in 48 cities across the U.S., according to the Irish Tourist Board.
The series of presentations, workshops and seminars, called the Marketing Ireland 2000 Roadshow, is being organized jointly by the Irish Tourist Board and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.
Joseph Byrne, the Irish Tourist Board’s executive vice president for North America, said that Ireland’s "tourism product offerings had changed dramatically" in recent years as more businesses in the tourism industry opened or expanded to meet the growing demand in the marketplace.
"The American market has been a vital contributor to our growth, with an exceptional growth in U.S. visitors to Ireland during the past number of years," Byrne said. "This series of seminars for retail travel agents is a major plank in our platform of communications with the trade."
David Boyce, the Northern Ireland’s Tourist Board’s director for North America, said that the workshops present the occasion for agents to personally meet with more than 70 representatives of airlines, tour operators, car rental companies, hotels and other suppliers from the island of Ireland.
Never miss an issue of The Irish Echo
Subscribe to one of our great value packages.
Presentations will be made by joint promotional teams consisting of representatives from suppliers of travel and tourism products throughout the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Event formats vary by location and will be a mix of breakfast and luncheon meetings or evening dinner receptions. Presentations will also be made to travel agents in attendance. Each seminar is scheduled to last about two hours. All events will feature video presentations.
Preregistration is required for all events, which are open to all retail travel agents. For details, call (800) 895-6941 or log onto the Irish Tourist Board’s web site at www.shamrockshow.com.
ICCUSA website
The web site set up by the Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the U.S. has been "totally redesigned," according to a statement from ICCUSA.
The address of the web site is www.iccusa.org,
ICCUSA President Maurice Buckley said the site has been expanded to include direct reciprocal links with both the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.
The project was directed by William J. McLaughlin, president of ICCUSA’s Mid-Atlantic chapter. He is principal of the marketing communications firm McLaughlin & Morgan.
ICCUSA members wishing to make the connection with ICCUSA may also e-mail "info @ iccusa.org" or call the Mid-Atlantic Chapter at (215) 574-3100.
Celtic Tiger speech
Today, Jan. 26, Ireland’s ambassador to the U.S., Sean O’hUiginn, will address the mid-Atlantic chapter of the Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the USA at a lunch reception in the Union League, in Philadelphia. O’hUiginn will speak about Ireland’s Celtic Tiger economy. For details, call Rory Wilson at (215) 574-3100.
Upgrading Cork Airport
A £61 million development program is to take place at Cork Airport. The project will include the building of a 86-bedroom Great Southern Hotel.
IBO news
This Thursday is the Irish Business Organization of New York’s theater night when members will attend at the Storm Theater, 145 West 46th Street, between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, for the play "Arrah-na-Pogue." First stop, however, is Langan’s Restaurant, 150 West 47th St., at 6:30 p.m. Showtime is 7:30. Tickets cost $15. Details, (212) 750-8118.
In Dublin, it’s showtime
About 2,000 international buyers from 23 countries attended the Showcase Ireland 2000 national craft, gift and fashion fair, which opened last weekend at the RDS, in Dublin.
American buyers from stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Talbots, QVC and the HSN home shopping channel as well as senior buyers from leading British department stores such as Marks & Spencer, K. Samuel and House of Fraser were among those who showed up for the show.
FDA clearance
Trinity Biotech, the Bray, Co. Wicklow, company that is quoted on the Nasdaq under TRIBY, has received Food and Drug Administration marketing clearance for a one-step test for predicting ulcers and gastric cancer.
Needing only one drop of whole blood, serum or plasma, the test, known as the Uni-Gold H. pylori test, screens for the presence of IgG antibodies to the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). H. pylori is believed to be the causative agent in over 90 percent of duodenal ulcers, 70 percent of gastric ulcers and 60 percent of gastric cancers and is recognized worldwide as the leading cause of peptic ulcer disease. It has been classified by the World Health Organization as a definitive carcinogen for gastric cancer.
Estimates from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that 25 million Americans have had a peptic ulcer during their lifetime and international infection rates can exceed 80 percent, especially in Asia and Latin America.
Long Island dinner
Thomas F. Goldrick, Jr., chairman and CEO of State Bank of Long Island, will be honored on April 14 during a dinner in Crest Hollow Country Club, Woodbury, N.Y. This 18th annual event is to benefit services run by the St. Mary’s Children and Families Foundation, based in Syosset. Details, (516) 921-0808, ext. 112.