Some of the tourism industry's biggest names and participants, along with Ministers from the North and South, attended a major conference aimed at marketing the northwest "on a cross-Border basis" in Letterkenny yesterday.
Destination North West takes in counties Donegal, Derry, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Sligo and Leitrim, and is working towards promoting these counties as a common area, to all of Ireland and beyond.
Shaun Quinn, chief executive of Fáilte Ireland and a native of Donegal, said the conference was about getting more visitors to the northwest.
"It's all about co-operation. We have a wonderful part of the country here and we've got what tourists want," Mr Quinn said.
"Getting here has never been easier; we have great access in terms of road and rail and now air access from Belfast and Derry. So we're trying to build a closer relationship with both sides of the Border and it's all about working together, because it's the only way to move forward."
With various strands of the industry in attendance, including a regular tourist to Donegal, Paul Clarke of UTV, and Ronan Morgan, a promoter of Rally Ireland, Mr Quinn said that partnerships and mergers had already begun to spring up from this initiative. "I do think that has already begun and I see it accelerating.
"The problem with tourism generally is that it is a very fragmented industry, but that is why we are saying in the northwest and right around the country, you've got to band together, work closely together and the State will support you.
"And that makes much more sense on a cross-Border basis because historically there is such a traditional tie between Donegal and Tyrone and so on. And when you package those counties together, there's a more rounded offering for tourists," Mr Quinn concluded.
Other speakers at the event included Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin and Marian Harkin MEP along with Paul McLoone, chairman of Destination North West.
Ms Hanafin told delegates at the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny, where the conference was being held, that there was huge potential there for the northwest despite a challenging year ahead.
"In terms of economic factors, there is a challenging year ahead," the Minister said.
"But we can never stand still and where people would never before have dreamed of coming to the North, it is now easy to see how tour operators from the UK and elsewhere could be attracted here."