Aer Lingus taste of America partners serve trade members a feast of 18 direct routes and plenty more in Belfast

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The Travel trade in Northern Ireland were treated to 18 direct reasons to turn out in great numbers in the Titanic Hotel for round one of the Aer Lingus Taste of America Trade support roadshows and Travelbiz was there to support the Aer Lingus Team of Ivan Beacom and Liza Hammond along with Ciara O’Brien from Dublin Airport and our valued partners from the USA which includes:

Boston (BOS), Destination New England (Connecticut and New Hampshire) (BOS/BDL/NYC), New York State (and Dutchess County) (NYC), Philadelphia & the Countryside of Philadelphia (PHL), Cleveland (CLE), Denver/Colorado (DEN), Great Lakes USA (ORD, CLE, MSP), Bloomington (& Mall of America) (MSP), Miami (MIA), Central Florida (MCO), Kissimmee (MCO), Orlando (MCO), Orlando and Universal Orlando (MCO) , Brand USA. California (LAX/SFO), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle & Port of Seattle (SEA) and Illinois (ORD).

There was a full haul of prizes won on the night with a Grand Prize of direct Aer Lingus Flights to Denver Colorado with accommodation and more provided by Aer Lingus and the team from Denver Colorado.

Sarah Beckwith, Trade Manager for Brand USA UK and Ireland and Holly Jordan, Trade Director for Brand USA UK and Ireland, delivered some really good news for the trade in Northern Ireland.

Ireland remained in the top 20 overseas markets for visitation into the US throughout 2023 finishing the year as the 14th highest in terms of overseas arrivals. That’s fantastic news for the trade in Ireland as we also recorded the highest percentage increase on January 2019 arrivals in January 2024 within the UK and European markets, showing really strong signs of a positive recovery. Ireland’s performance in January 2024 compared with 2019 (pre pandemic) is up by just under 9% and verses end of January 2023 up by over 23%!!

At the end of 2023 Ireland ranked 14th worldwide for visitation to the US with a total number of passengers of 454,988 and when you compare that to end of year 2019 (pre pandemic) Ireland’s figure was 520,692 so we are almost back to pre-pandemic levels and when the increase already recorded in January 2024 is taken into account, Ireland is well on the way to exceeding that figure which is a great result.

Our Taste of America trade partners provided more  giveaways for the trade on the night including:

• Universal Orlando – goody bag
• Visit Orlando- A place on their upcoming fam trip to Orlando Florida.
• Miami – Sunshine Goody bag
• Great Lakes – Goody hamper.
• Destination New England – Goody bag.
• California- Californian Goody Bag.
• Brand USA – A €50 BT voucher
• Illinois- Illinois Goody Bag.
• Philadelphia- We Love Philadelphia and Countryside of Philadelphia bag
• Denver – A very special Denver Backpack.
• NYS – A much sought after New York State Goody Bag.