The next Ireland Travel Trade Workshop, an international gathering of tour operators organised by Bord Fáilte, is to be held in Killarney, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, has announced.
The workshop, which is the largest travel trade event in the Irish tourism calendar, will take place in May next year.
Tourism interests in Kerry have been lobbying for the workshop for almost two years and the announcement has done much to mitigate criticism levelled at the Minister locally over his response to the leaked draft report commissioned by the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation recently.
The Bord Fáilte workshop attracts 350 tour operators from all over the world who meet with 500 Irish product providers over two days. Familiarisation visits to the various regions, organised by Bord Fáilte, will take place before and after the two days of business.
Mr O'Donoghue said that he particularly welcomed the decision to hold the workshop outside Dublin "as a very positive act of solidarity with Killarney".