'Flavours of Ireland' event proves to be excellent platform to highlight Clare businesses

Tourism Ireland’s ‘Flavours of Ireland’ event took place in London this past week, connecting local tourism businesses from across Clare and beyond with leading global tour operators.

Now in its 23rd year, ‘Flavours’ is an annual event where 60 tourism companies from across Ireland, including Aillwee Burren Experience, Bunratty Castle & Folk Park, Burren Smokehouse, Caherconnell Stone Fort & Sheepdog Demonstrations and Shannon Ferry Group, met and did business with around 60 inbound tour operators. These global operators are mainly based in London but deliver business from all over the world, including from the United States, Mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa. 

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‘Flavours’ provides an excellent opportunity for the participating tourism providers from Ireland to highlight and sell their tourism product, to build valuable relationships with the global inbound buyers in attendance and secure new business. The operators are preparing to sign contracts for 2026 and beyond, so it’s a key time to influence the addition of new tourism products to their programmes which have the potential to deliver more business for Ireland.

Global inbound tour operators deliver around 500,000 visitors to the island of Ireland each year. Around 660 commercial meetings were conducted at ‘Flavours’, which will, in turn, deliver business for Ireland from around the world in 2026 and beyond. 

Aisling McDermott, Tourism Ireland’s Head of Global Partnerships, said: “Our ‘Flavours of Ireland’ event plays a vital role in strengthening our presence in the global tourism marketplace. It’s an excellent platform to connect inspiring tourism businesses from across Ireland with influential inbound tour operators who design and sell travel programmes around the world.

"Through around 660 targeted commercial meetings, our industry partners had the opportunity to showcase the very best of what Ireland has to offer – from world-class visitor attractions and hidden gems of heritage to premium hotels, walking tours, boat trips and whiskey distilleries. Events like ‘Flavours’ help ensure that Ireland continues to feature prominently in global itineraries, driving more visitors, longer stays and greater regional spread in the years ahead," she added.