Ireland
BUSINESS EVENTS 2030:
A STRATEGIC ROADMAP FOR GROWTH
Details on Ireland ' s strategic vision and goals for the business events sector
Delegates at an evening Gala Dinner, Cork City Gaol, Cork City
Business Events 2030 is Ireland ' s new business events strategy, created to promote the development of a world-class business events sector and realise the full economic benefits of business events for Ireland. Business travel has long been recognised as a key driver for economic growth. A central pillar of the strategy focuses on developing year-round, high-value tourism. Business events typically occur midweek and outside traditional peak tourist seasons, which helps smooth out demand, optimise infrastructure use, and support sustainable tourism throughout the calendar year. This approach ensures that economic benefits are more evenly distributed across regions and throughout the year.
Strategic sectoral alignment is another key focus. The strategy actively targets business and professional events that align with Ireland ' s leading economic sectors, such as ICT, life sciences, financial services, agri-food, and sustainability. By attracting meetings and incentives in these areas, Ireland fosters knowledge exchange, innovation, and inward investment, advancing its knowledge and creative economy.
The strategy emphasises building capacity within cities and regions, co-developing association and destination capabilities, and supporting local communities across the Island. A core component is the promotion of Ireland ' s eco-friendly credentials, making sustainability and innovation central to the country ' s business events offering. This not only attracts environmentally conscious event organisers but also aligns with Ireland ' s broader climate and sustainability goals.
The ambitious strategy that is a product of collaboration between the Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and industry leaders from the tourism sector. It sets out a clear roadmap to drive an average annual revenue growth rate of 8 % to 2030, benefitting the tourism ecosystem, SMEs and local economies across the country. The roadmap also includes the essential key performance indicators to hold stakeholders to account
At the official launch at this year’ s IMEX in Frankfurt, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke T. D. commented: " Business Events 2030 represents a significant step forward in our commitment to fostering economic growth through the promotion of
Ireland as a fantastic location for business travel. This strategy refocuses our policy, placing more emphasis on economic targets, boosting both our indigenous tourism SMEs and our economy and highlights Ireland’ s ecofriendly credentials when attracting business." Joining 35 Irish companies on the Ireland stand he added,“ This refocuses our policy, placing emphasis on economic targets, on boosting both our tourism SMEs and our economy and highlights Ireland’ s eco-friendly credentials when attracting business.” n
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