TWO Irish rugby legends scrummed down with over 200 local tourism providers at this year's annual Northern Ireland conference.
Former Munster and Ireland captain Paul O'Connell, current Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt and women's international Claire McLaughlin were the guest speakers at the Northern Ireland tourism conference, held last week in the Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen.
Team tactics and how best to compete on an international stage were at the forefront of the discussion with the sporting giants joining Tourism NI chief executive John McGrillen and Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons on the bench for a motivational team talk.
The event concluded in a ‘scrum down’ with over 200 local tourism businesses discussing how best they can collaborate locally to compete globally and identify key areas of strength and weaknesses for the upcoming year.
“With Northern Ireland playing a key role in the current Rugby World Cup 2023 bid submission it was fitting to have Munster, Ireland and British and Ireland Lions rugby legend Paul O Connell and current Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt as key note speakers who shared their top tips on competing on an international stage, something the Northern Ireland tourism industry must do to reach our growth potential in the coming years," Mr McGrillen said.
It was a record breaking year for Northern Ireland tourism in 2016 as 4.6 million visitors generated over £850 million for the local economy.
