The Northern Ireland Tourism Minister Arlene Foster and her Republic of Ireland counterpart, Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, attended the first Tourism Ireland, “Ambassadors for Tourism Awards” at the National Gallery in Dublin.
The awards were initiated by Tourism Ireland to recognise individuals who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the success of overseas tourism to Northern Ireland and to the Republic of Ireland, and who are, above all, outstanding ambassadors for the destination and for the tourism industry.
The following industry members were honoured:
- Catriona Lavery, Hastings Hotel Group, received the Special Recognition Award specifically for Tourism to Northern Ireland;
- Jimmy Murphy, Brendan Worldwide Vacations, was honoured as the 2008 “Ambassador for Tourism”;
- Bob Moony, Jurys Doyle Hotels, was awarded the Special Recognition Award for his Significant and Lasting Contribution to the Overseas Marketing of Tourism to the Island of Ireland;
- Brian McColgan, Abbey Tours, received the Special Recognition for Excellence in Overseas Marketing Innovation.
Congratulating the award recipients, Minister Arlene Foster said: “Overseas tourism has made a significant contribution to the Northern Ireland economy over the past five years with strong growth in visitors from North America adding to a total of over two million visitors last year.
“The growth achieved to date is in no small part due to the hard work and determination of the award winners. Their continued promotion of Northern Ireland as a ‘must see,’ destination will help us to achieve our ambitious targets to increase tourist numbers to 2.5 million and grow tourism revenue to £520million by 2011.”
Speaking at the event, Mr Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism said: “It is important to recognise leadership and innovation in every walk of life, and I commend Tourism Ireland for initiating these awards. The recipients of these inaugural awards have demonstrated such qualities and have played an important role in the development and success of overseas tourism to the island of Ireland. They have truly been ambassadors for Irish tourism."
Minister Cullen added: "I would like to say thank you to all the award winners for their great professionalism and unstinting efforts in marketing the island of Ireland. We know we can rely on their continued commitment and we wish them every success in the future.”
Chairman of Tourism Ireland Hugh Friel said: “This is the first time that we have had the opportunity to acknowledge and applaud the outstanding contribution of colleagues in the tourism industry who have worked so hard overseas to help build tourism into the success it is today.
“Despite the current challenges, our tourism industry is a success. For a small island of two jurisdictions on the edge of Western Europe, we have punched well above our weight in terms of growth and market share and we aim to continue this performance.
“Tourism is now one of the most important indigenous industries and it is vital that we consolidate and build on this next year and beyond. Delivering almost £3billion annually for the economies on the island, the benefits of sustained investment in marketing and promotion overseas are clear and, if maintained, will continue to show benefits into the future”, he said.
Notes to Editors
1. For further information on award winners:
Elaine Moore/Clair Balmer, Tourism Ireland, tel: 028 7035 9260/07766 527719
Sonya Cassidy, Weber Shandwick, tel: 028 9034 7300/ 07770 886949
2. For media enquiries, please contact DETI Press Office on 028 9052 9297. Outside office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager Number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
