Tourism Ireland Brings Annual 'Flavours of Ireland' Event to Hillsborough Castle

Tourism Ireland’s ‘Flavours of Ireland’ event is taking place in London today – connecting tourism SMEs from across the island of Ireland with leading global inbound tour operators who bring visitors at scale to Ireland from around the world.

Now in its 24th year, ‘Flavours’ is an annual Tourism Ireland workshop – where 65 tourism companies from Ireland are connecting with around 100 global inbound tour operators, who’re mainly based in London and who deliver business from all over the world, including the United States, Mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa. 

In 2025, global inbound tour operators delivered around 250,000 visitors to the island of Ireland. Events like ‘Flavours’ help them set itineraries, determining the regions and communities that they bring visitors to. The tour operators are preparing to sign contracts for 2027 and beyond, so it’s a key time to influence the addition of new tourism products to their programmes that have the potential to deliver more regional and longer-stay business for the island of Ireland. Around 1,170 commercial meetings will be conducted at today’s event, which will, in turn, deliver business for Ireland from around the world in 2027 and beyond.  

Aisling McDermott, Tourism Ireland’s Head of Global Partnerships, said: “Tourism Ireland’s Flavours of Ireland event is designed to increase awareness of the island of Ireland among influential global inbound tour operators and to secure a greater share of the global travel market.

"We are delighted to connect inspiring local tourism businesses from across the island of Ireland with global tour operators, who build itineraries to sell in key overseas markets for the coming years. Around 1,170 commercial meetings are taking place at our Flavours of Ireland workshop today. Local tourism businesses attending offer diverse experiences – from boat trips to cathedrals and castles, from gardens and whiskey distilleries to jaunting car tours, from premium hotels to ways to travel and regions to explore.”