By: Darina Slattery (Japan Ireland Travel)

The purpose of this trip was to improve awareness of Ireland as a holiday destination directly to the travel trade, subsequently to increase visitor numbers from Japan to Ireland. The group was led by Mr Asano Kimihiro from Tourism Ireland in Tokyo who has been waving the flag for Ireland for over 10 years now. His passion for Ireland has been consistent throughout his journey with (the former) Bord Failte and (current) Tourism Ireland. Mr Osman Bhurgri, TI’s New & Developing Marketing Manager, represented their Irish office, soon to be moved to Dubai.

Other Irish trade who made it over included the Cliffs of Mohar, Eirebus, Whites Hotel Group in Lisdoonvarna, and Island Ferries, represented for the 10th time in Japan, by founder Sally O’Brien. Sally continued to make the point that, “going to Japan on a once off trade mission is pointless. You have to keep it going no matter how bad things get. They need to see you year in year out. That’s the key to doing business in Japan.”

The week started off casually at an Irish Pub (The Irish Times) in the Shimbashi area of Tokyo. Among some of the guests who attended was our very own Irish Ambassador to Japan, Mr Brendan Scannell. The evening was attended by many media trade including a journalist from Oz mall Online Magazine who recently published a colourful article on Ireland.

This magazine is targeted at the OL (office ladies) of Tokyo which is a hugely significant market when thinking ‘travel’ from Japan.

The Workshops that followed were well attended by 126 people in Tokyo on May 26th and 41 in Osaka on May 29th, which were broken down as follows.

• 49 Tour Operators
• 20 Ground Handlers
• 9 EFL Agents
• 20 Media
• 2 Airlines
• 10 Hotels
• 16 Others (organizations etc...)

• 22 Tour Operator
• 13 Ground Handler
• 2 EFL Agents
• 2 Airlines
• 2 Others

Asano-san noted that this was one of their most successful workshops to date, not only because of the number of attendees but also because of the real interest and positive feedback from the trade that they have since received. Ireland was portrayed exceptionally by the Tourism Ireland team in Japan who have been doing great work for the island of Ireland for many years now.

Their presentation was appealing, informative, and absolutely targeted for the audience it received.

The next trip to Japan will be in September, Tokyo’s largest consumer travel show “JATA”. Anyone interested in joining this trip should contact Tourism Ireland directly.

Photos:
(Top L-R) Osman Bhurgi - Tourism Ireland Dublin,
Brendan Scannell - Ambassador of Ireland in Japan
Kimihiro Asano - Tourism Ireland Japan;
(2nd from top) Darina Slattery, Japan Ireland Travel;
(3rd from top) Irish Trade Trade with Tourism Ireland representatives.