Record numbers visit holiday show
Organisers said more than 50,000 people attended the event, which took place in the RDS in Dublin at the weekend — the highest number of people ever to attend.
The annual event featured over 1,000 travel experts from Ireland and abroad offering advice and a range of ‘show only’ deals.
CEO of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) Pat Dawson said the level of enquiries was so large that extra staff had be drafted in to cope with demand.
“A number of our member travel agents exhibited at the show, and by all accounts, it was a stellar event. Our agents have reported up to 30% increases in bookings at this year’s show, and the level of enquiries meant that in some cases additional staff had to be drafted in to deal with the demand.”
The association is also reporting a 10% increase in business at travel agents across the country.
Mr Dawson said the record attendance was a sign a booming travel industry here, which employs some 5,000 people and generated a turnover of €1.5bn last year.
“Queues were out the door of the RDS and the attendees were engaged in a way that we haven’t seen in years.
“We think the popularity of the 2015 show can be attributed to new buoyancy prevalent in the market and the great range of holidays available to book at the exhibition, the new airline routes for 2015 definitely have people talking.”
Organisers said the record turnout for the show indicated the continued appetite among Irish holidaymakers for budget-conscious holiday options.
Edmund Hourican, managing director of Business Exhibitions Ltd, which organises the event, said there was not only a record number of people attending the show, but also a surge in people actually booking holidays rather than just making enquiries.
“Our 2015 show has been more successful than ever before with huge numbers attending not just to make enquiries, but to actually book their holidays.
“Exhibitors have seen increases in business as people feel more confident when it comes to booking holidays for the year ahead. The increased attendance figure reflects the new buoyancy the travel trade are seeing in their business.”
Particularly popular exhibitors at this year’s show were Ethiopian Airlines, who are launching direct routes to Addis Ababa from June; the ever popular España stand, where 17 regions of Spain were present; Jamaica, Brazil, Lithuania, Sudan and China, who were among the new editions to the show this year.
Irish stands offering special hotel and travel deals for the home-holiday seeker were also hugely popular with those attending the event.
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