THE WOMAN smiles nervously as she introduces herself to the man opposite. She only has 10 minutes to make her mark before moving on to the next table and it is obvious that she wants to make a good impression.
No, this isn’t speed dating – this is business – and the only romance the 310 international tour operators gathered in Dublin’s RDS are seeking is a Céad Míle Fáilte from the Irish tourism businesses with which they are doing business.
Meitheal 2012, which began yesterday in Dublin’s RDS, is Ireland’s largest tourism trade fair which will see 600 Irish accommodation providers take part in 17,000 scheduled meetings with tour operators over two days.
The tour operators come from 18 countries including Ireland’s biggest markets, the US, UK, France and Germany.
“I wouldn’t not come to this event,” says Ellen McNulty who has attended the event every year since it began 37 years ago. Her business, New York-based Lynott Tours, offers customised tours to its clients; the annual event means she can keep her finger on the pulse of Irish tourism.
“It’s very important to get a feel for where things are going for next year too, concern about the increase on VAT on hotels and so on,” she explains.
So what is it that continues to attract her company and her customers to Ireland? “It’s just the genuine warmth of the people,” she says. Value for money has “absolutely” improved in recent years. “Hotels here are offering wonderful rates and the product is still good . . . it’s always a quality product”.
Darren Madden of the Clew Bay Hotel in Westport says the trade fair “is imperative for Ireland as a tourism hub going forward. You can feel the energy here, people talking, trying to generate business for Ireland.
“There are hundreds of operators from all around the world here. There is no way we could get to see these people in their workplace, especially a family-run hotel like ourselves”.
Fáilte Ireland chief executive Shaun Quinn says the trade fair, which will see 310 international tour operators conduct meetings with about 600 Irish accommodation providers, activity providers and those promoting Irish attractions, is “phenomenally important” for the industry.
He adds that it is also an indicator of international and domestic sentiment about Irish tourism. “There is an optimistic tone in some of our key markets, most notably the US, Germany and France. That would tally very much with more optimistic mood within the Irish trade as well.
“They are much more optimistic today than they were two or three years ago.”
The optimism to which he alludes is borne out in the latest Fáilte Ireland Tourism Barometer, which shows that 54 per cent of Irish tourism businesses say their performance has improved this year, compared to just 8 per cent of businesses who agreed with this sentiment in 2009.
A further 21 per cent of businesses say they are holding steady, compared to just 9 per cent three years ago.
A Millward Brown Lansdowne poll on behalf of Fáilte Ireland, which interviewed 1,510 departing overseas holidaymakers between May and October 2011, is also encouraging. Visitors were asked how strongly they would recommend Ireland as a place to visit on a scale of 0-10, with two- thirds of overseas holidaymakers giving it a score of 9 or 10.
Back at the trade fair, the clock has counted down and the Irish businesswoman is awarded with a warm handshake from the tour operator she has been talking to for the past 10 minutes. With any luck the short meeting will translate into bookings; she walks away smiling to her next meeting just a few tables away.