This week Cork Convention Bureau hosted members of the Society of Incentive Travel Executives (Site Ireland) during a two day visit to showcase the business tourism offering of the Cork region.
 
Seamus Heaney, Chairman of the Cork Convention Bureau said, “Site Ireland is such a dynamic organisation and we were delighted to welcome them to Cork to profile what the  region has to offer for incentive and motivational travel programmes. We are continually targeting meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition (MICE) agencies to increase the business coming into Cork. We hope this visit will develop many new important relationships as we visited a range of high quality attractions and gave our Site Ireland friends a flavour of the remarkable things they can see and do here”.
 
“We organised a very exciting itinerary beginning with lunch at Blackrock Castle Observatory followed by sailing in Kinsale. A visit to The Old Head of Kinsale Golf Links and dinner at the Carlton Hotel, Kinsale rounded off a busy first day. The following morning our visitors experienced the character and charm of The English Market and sampled some of Cork’s finest artisan foods followed by lunch at Ballyvolane House, a fantastic option for corporate away-days and high end incentive groups with its magnificent gardens  situated in the Blackwater Valley.  In the afternoon they travelled to the Grainstore in Ballymaloe to meet chef Rory Allen. The day concluded with a visit to the 5 star Castlemartyr Resort before leaving Cork. Overnight accommodation was provided by Site Ireland hotel members, The River Lee Hotel and Hayfield Manor”.
 
“As a member of Site Ireland and their global network we can reach out to a huge number of agents particularly those based in the United States. This 2 day visit was a wonderful platform for us to increase awareness of what the Cork region has to offer as a location for international meetings and conferences,” said Evelyn O’Sullivan, Business Tourism Manager at Cork Convention Bureau.
 
Figures released early this year showed that in 2012, the value of international conferences confirmed through Cork Convention Bureau activity resulted in €7.2 million for the Cork region.

Photo by Darragh Kane.
Pictured during their visit to the Old Head Golf Links, Kinsale are Aine O'Keefe, Ovation Ireland, Linda McFadden, The Firm, Evelyn O'Sullivan, Cork Convention Bureau, and Dominic Daly, Old Head Golf Links, Kinsale.