Tourism NI Welcomes Business Networking Event
Importance of Networking in Northern Ireland
Tourism NI is delighted to announce the face-to-face return of its Meet the Buyer trade event after two years of delivering the event virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The annual flagship b2b networking event will host operators from over 16 global markets at ICC Belfast on Tuesday March 29 making it the largest international tourism networking platform held in Northern Ireland.
Delivered in partnership with Tourism Ireland, Meet the Buyer attracts a wide range of international tour companies and opens up the window of opportunity for local businesses to showcase their tourism business and attend one-to-one appointments with a pre-qualified group of overseas buyers.
Eimear Callaghan, Tourism NI’s Business Solutions Manager, said: "I am delighted that our flagship b2b event Meet the Buyer will return to a face to face format for the first time since 2019.
It marks a very important step in the recovery process for Northern Ireland tourism businesses who are committed to international visitors.
Whilst both our Virtual Meet the Buyers were very successful, nothing replaces that personal engagement and conversation and it provides us with an amazing opportunity to remind our international operators of the super experiences, hotels and visitor attractions that Northern Ireland has to offer.
Tourism NI is dedicated to supporting the recovery of the tourism sector and this year’s event marks the return of international sales activity which will help businesses across Northern Ireland secure their future and drive sales after two years of uncertainty.
Eimear added: “I would encourage any Northern Ireland tourism business that is committed to international markets to express their interest ahead of the deadline. We look forward to extending a giant welcome to both industry and operators on the 29th March.
To be eligible to participate in Meet the Buyer businesses must be based in Northern Ireland, have sufficient capacity to facilitate tour groups, focus on international markets and have development plans in place and are registered with Tourism NI's Good to Go scheme.
Tourism businesses interested in registering for the event or seeing the full eligibility criteria can go to Tourism Northern Ireland - Meet the Buyer
Deadline for Expressions of Interest: Monday 14th February at 5pm.