When Irish travel agents pray, it is often for a wet summer. The new president of the Irish Travel Agents' Association, Mr Gerry Benson, told The Irish Times yesterday that the rotten summer of 1997 will have a major bearing on the attendance at the Holiday World Experience, which is expected to break all records.
There are over 700 exhibitors from all corners of the globe. There is a Caribbean Village, representing the capitalist Bahamas to communist Cuba. After the summer of 1997, the lure of guaranteed sunshine is irresistible, Mr Benson says.
Some people have not waited until the holiday fair to book. In the last four weeks, according to Mr Benson, "holidays to Florida have been walking out the travel agents' doors". The buoyant Irish economy is a factor, of course, but, Mr Benson insists, the reason that 440,000 will go abroad on their holidays this year has much to do with their determination to seek the sun. That figure will be up about 7 per cent on last year.
New this year is the Cruise Pavilion, to satisfy a growing demand in the Irish market for luxury cruises. Exhibitors include Cunard, Holland America Line, Royal Olympic and Royal Caribbean. US exhibitors include Las Vegas and Walt Disney.
The largest stand at Holiday World belongs to England's North Country - Northumbria, Yorkshire, North West and CumbriaLake District. The organisers say: "This is the England of Wordsworth, the Brontes, the Romans and the Industrial Revolution, the region that has helped to shape the history, the destiny and the character of Britain."
Despite the weather problem, Bord Failte has got in on the act with a specially co-ordinated pavilion. The affluent Irish holidaymaker is now taking two and even three breaks a year, says Mr Benson, and the tourist board is determined that at least one of them will be at home.
Perhaps the hardest sell at the fair is Northern Ireland. "If you really want to know what Belfast's like, ask anyone who's been," Belfast City Council says. The Lord Mayor, Cllr Alban McGuinness, was on hand for the opening.