CALGARY — Tourism Ireland is fresh off a three-city Canadian tour that invited the travel trade on a ‘sensory journey’ that highlighted Ireland’s rich culture and landscapes.

Taking place last week in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, ‘Senses of Ireland’ is Tourism Ireland’s new concept event series, launched in partnership with eight Irish partners.

In each city, attendees were able to explore various ‘sense stations,’ including a ‘Taste’ station that included whiskey and chocolate pairings from Jameson Distillery in Cork and Dublin as well as fresh apple tarts from the orchard county with Visit Armagh, and an immersive augmented reality ‘Sight’ station complete with VR headsets courtesy of Taste Causeway and The Gobbins in Northern Ireland.

Guests were also able to participate in language lessons at a ‘Sound’ station with Oideas Gael in County Donegal and Angela Newman from Hysterical Histories Cork, and take in a live demonstration using a mini smoker of smoked salmon from The Burren Smokehouse paired with Burren Gold Cheese from Ailwee Caves at a ‘Smell’ station.

“Senses of Ireland’ was an event unlike any other we have executed before,” said Sandra Moffatt, Manager, Tourism Ireland, Canada. “The key cities of Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver in Western Canada is a very important market for us, and we are delighted to be highlighting the superb tourism offerings around the island of Ireland in a unique and immersive way.

“This event series provided our industry partners with the opportunity to meet and network and highlight their product offering in a real-time way with an exclusive audience of top tier agents, operators and media, providing increased opportunities for business in 2024 and beyond.”

Granite Expo | Edmonton

‘Senses of Ireland’ kicked off in Calgary, a core feeder market for the destination with direct air access into Dublin with WestJet, which runs from May through October. Following that, Tourism Ireland headed to Edmonton in collaboration with Canadian travel-trade fair Granite Expo where the team connected with over 80 travel advisors. The series ended in Vancouver, where Air Canada offers direct seasonal flights to Dublin from June 1-Sept. 30, 4x/week in both directions.

Ireland welcomed 248,000 tourists from Canada in 2019, making 2019 the 10^th year of consecutive growth for the destination. Canada is Ireland’s 10^th largest market for overseas tourism.

For more information go to www.ireland.com.