Spanish Travel Agents enjoy a warm Causeway Coast welcome

The travel agents all work for Travelplan, a leading tour operator in Spain which programmes the island of Ireland for coach tours and individual travel. The aim of this week’s fact-finding visit is to familiarise the travel agents with Northern Ireland and our superb tourism offering, so that when they return home they will be even better informed to advise their clients when planning and booking their holidays.

The group’s itinerary – designed by Tourism NI – includes visits to the Gobbins Cliff Walk, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Bushmills Distillery, the Giant’s Causeway and Dunluce Castle as well Titanic Belfast and the SS Nomadic.

In 2014, we welcomed 32,000 Spanish visitors to Northern Ireland, up +23% on the previous year. Barbara Wood, Tourism Ireland’s manager in Spain, said: “Spain is an important market for tourism to Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland and 2015 looks set to be another strong year for Spanish visitors. We have a really extensive autumn campaign in full swing right now – aimed at boosting late-season travel to Northern Ireland from Spain. Working with travel agents and tour operators, and inviting them to come and experience what’s on offer here is a key element of that programme. Our aim is that when they return home, the travel agents will be even more enthusiastic about the destination, helping to secure a greater share of their business for Northern Ireland.”