International buyers representing the £30 billion incentive travel industry today met Irish tourism operators in Bord Fáilte's biggest-ever Business Travel Workshop.
Incentive travel is an increasingly popular way for companies to reward top executives. Popular packages include golfing weekends, adventure sports and luxurious retreats - usually using four- and five-star hotels.
Incentive travellers spend an average of £1,600 making this a very lucrative sector of the Irish tourism economy.
Incentive travel attracts some 52,000 visitors to Ireland and is worth over £70 million to the economy.
In a series of one-to-one business appointments at the Burlington Hotel, 114 buyers from 16 countries, including 15 from the important US market, met over 100 top Irish tourism operators.
Commenting on the weekend, Bord Fáilte acting chief executive Mr Niall Reddy said: "The Incentive travel market is already very valuable to the Irish market and the potential for growth is substantial".
He said Bord Fáilte expects the incentive travel sector to grow by 15 per cent in the coming years.