SOME OF the top coach and tour operators in Britain travelled over to Ireland last week to attend a workshop with the tourism sector here and during their visit they stopped off in New Ross.

The initiative was organised in conjunction with Failte Ireland to encourage the visiting operators to feature Ireland as a new destination in their 2014 programmes and to extend the Irish content of their existing programmes.

While in New Ross the visiting delegation stayed in the Brandon House Hotel and embarked on a ‘familiarisation trip’ which saw them visit some of the local tourist attractions including the Dunbrody ship and the Ros Tapestry.

Tourism Ireland’s Head of Great Britain, Vanessa Markey, said the trip was a resounding success with the delegates being very impressed by what they saw.

Expressing delight that so many of the operators took the time to make the trip she said: “Great Britain is Ireland’s largest tourism market and visits like this provide an excellent opportunity for us to position the island of Ireland as a ‘must-see’ destination. The aim of the trip was to encourage the visiting tour operators to feature New Ross and Ireland as a new destination in their programmes or to extend the Irish content of their existing programmes.”

Tourism Ireland is currently rolling out its autumn campaign in Great Britain where it is targeting millions of potential holidaymakers to avail of city breaks and rural holidays.

“Our message is that there has never been a better time to visit,” said Ms. Markey.