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Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke joined Tourism Ireland in London this week, to promote the island of Ireland at the world’s largest travel fair, World Travel Market (WTM). As Tourism Ireland prepares for 2026, the organisation mounted a significant presence at WTM this week – joined by around 75 tourism companies from right around the island of Ireland. WTM is the largest B2B event in the global travel and tourism calendar and marks the beginning of Ireland’s promotional drive overseas for 2026. While taking place in London, WTM is an excellent opportunity to meet tour operators and travel trade from around the world, including those serving nascent markets like China, India and the Middle East, as well Great Britain, Mainland Europe and North America. Tourism Ireland helps over 750 SMEs through overseas events like WTM, where they connect with tour operators who bring visitors at scale. The business pipeline generated from global travel trade events in the first half of 2025 was estimated at €70m. Over the course of the event, around 3,600 commercial meetings were conducted on the Ireland stand, delivering overseas tourism business for the island of Ireland worth millions of euro. The tourism businesses from Ireland – from premium hotels and resorts, whiskey distilleries and jaunting car tours to activity providers and hidden gems of heritage – engaged in meetings with international tour operators to negotiate and exchange vital contracts for 2026 and beyond, and ultimately to bring valuable tourists to the island. Minister Burke met with Lonely Planet at WTM, to mark the publication’s naming of Tipperary as a top five global destination to visit in 2026. Speaking at the event, Minister Peter Burke said:“I am delighted to join Tourism Ireland in London today at the world’s largest travel fair in the global travel and tourism calendar, World Travel Market, and to meet our tourism businesses from across the island of Ireland at the Ireland stand. SMEs are a cornerstone of the tourism sector and events such as this provide key opportunities to engage with overseas tour operators who have the potential to bring visitors at scale to our island and support businesses and communities across the regions. “A key ambition of this Government is to grow Ireland’s tourism industry and I believe that by participating in events such as World Travel Market, we can continue to advance and deliver on this goal – increasing visitor numbers and strengthening our tourism offering. Our focus remains on promoting the island of Ireland internationally, providing visitors with strong and compelling reasons to choose Ireland as a destination.” Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said, at the event: “Our presence at World Travel Market is extremely important to kick-start our promotional drive overseas for 2026. We are delighted to have around 75 tourism companies from across the island of Ireland joining us at this year’s WTM, with an estimated 3,600 commercial meetings set to take place. World Travel Market presents a unique opportunity for the travel industry to meet, network, negotiate and contract business for 2026 and Tourism Ireland facilitates that connection. We are targeting visitors who do more, see more, enjoy more – and therefore spend more – during their time in Ireland, to help tourism businesses across our island thrive.” 2025 has been a year of change in tourism, but with opportunity ahead, including +12% growth in air connectivity to the island of Ireland this winter. Tourism Ireland’s message at WTM was that the island of Ireland has so much to offer across regions and seasons. The organisation’s focus remains on marketing the island effectively overseas, giving visitors compelling reasons to choose this destination. Also in attendance was Dr Caoimhe Archibald, Northern Ireland’s current economy minister. Dr Archibald said: “Tourism is a vital contributor to the economy. It is a sector I am keen to support and to help grow as we aim for tourism expenditure from our overnight visitors to exceed £2 billion by 2035. Events such as World Travel Market, the largest in the global travel and tourism calendar, are important to help achieve this. “The event marks the beginning of Tourism Ireland’s promotional drive overseas for 2026, where Ireland is positioned as a must-see destination. The tourism businesses in attendance from across the north have the opportunity to meet with operators from across the world and bring tourists to our beautiful island. All of which boosts our economy and places us on the map as a location with a unique story to tell, renowned for our authentic experiences, landscape, heritage and culture.”
