The Fáilte Ireland Business Forum said today that business tourism will be worth in excess of €1 billion to the Irish economy by 2013.
The forum, which met today, said it estimated that almost 600,000 business tourists are expected to visit the country in 2013 - a significant increase on the 295,000 annual business visitors which are currently worth around €447m to the economy.
Increased numbers of business tourists are expected to be attracted to Ireland by the opening of the National Conference Centre in Dublin's docklands and VAT deductability of accommodation expenses.
The Business Forum also said that it had concerns regarding the number of hotels offering accommodation in Dublin city centre. While the numbers of hotel facilities being built is keeping the amount of accommodation fairly stable, many of the new facilities are being built on the outskirts of the city, which is not ideal for business visitors, it said.
Speaking at today's event, the Chairman of the Business Tourism Forum, Peter Malone said that Dublin's dearth of gala venues with capacity for more than 1000 guests was also of concern to the forum.
He said that while this imbalance would be rectified somewhat by the opening of the National Conference Centre, the forum was still committed to finding a major historic building in Dublin city centre which might be adapted for major event banqueting.
"Business Tourism is an increasingly important element of the tourism mix. Its value goes beyond the money spent by delegates. Business and social contacts made and enhanced through the holding of events in Ireland clearly facilitate business and trade development long after the delegates disperse back across the world," said Mr Malone.
"Business Tourism has a higher per capita spend, operates at the high end of the market and it makes good economic sense to concentrate resources on making greater inroads into this lucrative market."