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 Newly formed group Meet in Galway is aiming to develop Galway’s reputation as a venue for international business tourism, group member Suzanne Meade tells Declan Rooney
Some of the West’s leading businesses have come together to spread the word that Galway is a viable option for businesses hoping to host conventions in Ireland.
Edward Hotels Business Development Manager and Meet in Galway member Suzanne Meade feels that the city and county are missing out on hosting these lucrative events.
“Meet in Galway is a collection of venues and businesses in Galway that will be targeting international business. Large-scale meetings, conferences, general events and corporate incentives could all be held in Galway.
“There is huge amount coming into Ireland already but Galway is getting a very small share of it. We want to try and highlight the region as a destination for business,” says Ms Meade.
Dublin is the country’s leading light when it comes to large-scale conventions, but according to Ms Meade, the majority of conferences are still within the range of Galway venues.
“Dublin is our main hub for conference business, the likes of the Convention Centre Dublin (CCD) would get a lot of the larger conferences there. But Fáilte Ireland have shown through their figures that 70 per cent of corporate meetings and incentives are held outside Dublin. That is the type of business Galway could target.
“With the new motorway giving such good access to the city now, we are a lot easier to get to than many of the other destinations that are winning a lot more business. The difference is that they are actively targeting it.”
Galway will be going head-to-head with the likes of Killarney and Kilkenny, should they target this form of tourism. But without a venue like the Killarney Conference Centre – which can accommodate close to 5,000 patrons – we might struggle to compete. Not so, according to Ms Meade.
“They do have a purpose-built convention centre but we have a huge amount of venues in Galway that could cater for events with over 1,000 people in attendance,” she says.
“NUI Galway can cater for 1,100 people, the Radisson can take up to 1,000 people, the Clayton Hotel can hold 800 people, while the Galway Bay hotel can take 600 people in a theatre style venue.
“There are a number of venues in the city that can accommodate these events but one hotel might not be able to cope with the demand for all the accommodation. However we have over 3,000 bedrooms in Galway hotels so by working together to promote the city for this type of business we show a cohesive togetherness. We will make it easy.”
Galway’s leading businesses, hotels and colleges have already rowed in behind the idea, while Galway Airport, Galway Chamber, Go West, Business & Events Management (BEM) and Galway City Council have also pledged their support. The work has already started and the next priority for Meet in Galway is to put themselves in front of their target audience.
“Primarily at the moment we will target the UK market because it is nearest us. We have already been to the ‘Meet in Ireland’ event, which took place in London early in November. We were represented there and as a group we will take turns representing ourselves at various events. That was very worthwhile and we already have some leads to host some events in Galway.”
And time is of the essence, she explains. “The lead in for this type of business varies. Some smaller meeting and incentives could still be arranged for next year, but the larger association meetings could be as much as a three- or four-year lead-time. But those are the events that the work needs to be put into now, looking further down the line.”
And the idea certainly makes good business sense, with Fáilte Ireland figures estimating a potential €150 million windfall to the Irish economy. However, as Ms Meade points out, spreading the message that Galway wants this business is of primary importance.
“The average spend for a conference delegate is between €1,300 and €1,500. That is three times that of a leisure tourist. And they do stay longer with the average trip, over six days to the country.
“We need to get the word out there. We are here, we can handle the events here in Galway, we are not just about leisure tourism and we are well able to take events with around 1,000 people. We need to work with people from our multi-nationals, our hospitals and colleges to become conference ambassadors.
“There is a slight shy away from some of the glitzier destinations of late, people do not now want to be seen to host their events in the likes of Las Vegas or Monte Carlo. Europe has become popular again and has seen an increasing in demand for this business. We have to be ready to take advantage of that.”
For more information on Meet in Galway, email
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Image Caption: Susanne Meade, Meet in Galway. Image and Story courtesy of Galway Independent.
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