BOB MOWAT
A high-profile group of tourism officials from Cork, Ireland were in Canada recently to meet with travel trade partners, tourism officials and others to talk about how the destination can go about attracting more Canadian visitors.
Seamus Heaney, head of Visit Cork, explained that along with focusing on tourism and aviation, the visit also focused on the growing trade relationship between Canada and Ireland.
In this respect, Heaney pointed out that Ireland’s Ambassador to Canada, John Concannon, has been particularly active in this area, pushing for trade relations between Canada and Ireland to be stronger than ever before.
In fact, a newly released study by the government of Ireland and the Conference Board of Canada found that trade between Canada and Ireland has nearly doubled since 2017 and reached US$9.6 billion in 2023.
Tourism is clearly a big part of the relationship between the two countries and the Cork delegation were clearly intent on helping to expand that relationship and, in the bargain, welcome more Canadian visitors to the city and region.
Michael Magner, National President, Irish Hotels Federation, observed: “We’re here to promote Cork into Canada and the wonderful relationships and links that could be established and to build on what’s already there from the promotion that Tourism Ireland is doing in Canada.”
“We have a campaign called Ireland Unrushed to really encourage people to ‘linger longer’ – to use Cork as a base, stay there and see the counties around it. See Ireland’s Ancient East. And we have suggested itineraries that travel advisors can use that will help them program that kind of trip.”
–Tourism Ireland’s Director Canada, Sandra Moffatt
The Irish Hotel Federation represents just under 1,000 hotels and guest houses throughout Ireland, employing nearly 69,000 professionals across all scopes of hotel properties – three, four, five star assets – located in our cities across all of Ireland and in its regional towns and villages.
Magner pointed out that “access into Ireland [from Canada] is up and we see Cork as a real, significant touchpoint,” for Canadians visiting Ireland.
In meetings with Quebec tourism officials during the visit, Magner said the group from Cork had a chance to learn what Canadians were looking for from a destination.
Those conversations also reinforced the need for partnerships and collaboration, something that Magner said that Visit Cork is already in its work with stakeholders, Tourism Ireland, the Cork Airport and others.
As for what the group learned about Canadians, Magner said: “They’re astute. They’re very specific, I suppose, in relation to what they want, but once those requests are met, they are really easy people to look after.”
More specifically though, he explained that Canadians “want good value because the exchange rate with the Canadian dollar right now is significant, so therefore, it’s a big investment to come to Ireland for Canadians.”
He continued: “They want good value, but it’s beyond good value. It’s immersive experiences. It’s not just about our members and our hotels providing comfortable double beds, with showers and ensuites and good WiFi. They want immersive experiences to see and touchpoints along Ireland’s Ancient East and the Wild Atlantic Way. They want to immerse with the people and the culture.”
Heaney also pointed out that one of the unique features about Cork is the size of its hotels, explaining: “We don’t have any chains [chain hotels] in Cork and I think that’s an added bonus. The hotels are very personalized.”
Aaron Mansworth, IHF Cork & Managing Director, Trigon Hotels Cork, pointed to the destinations ease of access and the work the Cork International Airport has been doing to ensure that, adding that: “I think we all see the importance of every piece of business that comes in” from Canada.
And there is certainly a connection between County Cork and Canada as 200 years ago, Irish families emigrated to Canada to start a new life here, with Mansworth observing: “That’s a massive story – that whole link in with the Canadian diaspora is huge.”
Magner picked up the story and explained that each of the families were given a small parcel of land to farm on arrival in Canada and to start their new life here.
[For more, check out the Cobh Heritage Centre and details of the 200th anniversary celebrations here.]
There’s no doubt that the connection between Cork and Canada is a strong one – reaching back 200 years in history when just over 2,000 men, women and children left from Cobh (a short drive from Cork City) to make the trip to this country – and today, Cork International Airport is working hard to strengthen those connections.
Tara Finn, Head of Aviation Development and Communications for Cork International Airport, made it clear that while “we don’t have a direct connection yet [between Canada and Cork], it’s something that we’re working very hard towards.”
But she also made it clear that there is “a lot of connectivity into Cork,” observing that “you can get to anywhere from Cork with one stop and so any parts of Canada you can get to with one stop.”
Along with Aer Lingus, Canadian airlines like Air Canada, Air Transat and WestJet all offer service to Dublin, where Canadians can connect on to Cork.
And the airport is growing, with Finn pointing out that it “has grown by 30% this year versus last year,” noting that we’re going to have 3.4 million passengers this year which is our highest ever international year of traffic,” and making it clear that “it’s a huge opportunity and I think a lot of that growth has come from the Canadian and U.S. group.”
Derry Cronin, Owner, Cronin’s Coaches / Specialized Travel Services, emphasized the importance of collaboration between all members of the group, and pointed out that that kind of collaboration has paid off in results.
Cronin noted that if you look at operators like Collette, CIE, Royal Irish Tours and others, “you’ve seen their programs increase in Cork and in many cases [it’s because] of the work done by Visit Cork.”
He also pointed out that: “There are three main components to travel: How you get there by flight. Where you stay. And what you do when you’re there.” And Cork, he said, has all of these and that’s why “more and more by operators” are featuring it in their programs.
Cronin Coaches, a family run business, was established in 1957, so Cronin has seen a lot of changes and he observed that over that time, “Cork has grown hugely” and, at the end of the day, the reason the delegation is in Canada “is to continue to build on it [that growth] – and it’s all about experiences for visitors.”
And in this respect, Cronin said that travel is “all about spending time [with family, friends, loved ones] and creating moments and Ireland does that really, really well,” and, he added, Cork excels at that.
In this respect, he points out that along with more and more operators featuring Cork in their programs, there is growth in the FIT market, observing that: “Before, a lot of people used to travel through Cork and now they want to stay – dwell a little bit longer and touch more things and experience more things.”
Tourism Ireland’s Director Canada, Sandra Moffatt points out that: “We have a campaign called Ireland Unrushed to really encourage exactly what Derry was saying about encouraging people to ‘linger longer;’ to use Cork as a base, stay there and see the counties around it. See Ireland’s Ancient East. And we have suggested itineraries that travel advisors can use that will help them program that kind of trip.”
Heaney is certainly appreciative of this kind of support from Tourism Ireland and the work it has been doing on the ground in Canada, observing that that support certainly shows. “Air access is up and that just doesn’t happen. Visitors just don’t go. People are becoming more familiar with Ireland and that just doesn’t happen.”
For more on Cork, go to www.purecork.ie or www.corkconventionbureau.com.
