Tourism Ireland, together with tourism businesses from across the island of Ireland including Smithwick’s Experience Kilkenny, mounted a significant presence at World Travel Market (WTM) in London this week. WTM is the largest B2B event in the global travel and tourism calendar and heralds the beginning of Ireland’s promotional drive overseas for 2026.
While taking place in London, WTM is an excellent opportunity to meet tour operators and travel trade from around the world, including those serving nascent markets like China, India and the Middle East, as well Great Britain, Mainland Europe and North America.
Tourism Ireland helps over 750 SMEs through overseas events like WTM, where they connect with tour operators who bring visitors at scale. At WTM, over three days, around 3,600 commercial meetings were conducted on the Ireland stand, delivering overseas tourism business for the island of Ireland worth millions of euro. The tourism businesses from Ireland – from premium hotels and resorts, whiskey distilleries and jaunting car tours to activity providers and hidden gems of heritage engaged in meetings with international tour operators to negotiate and exchange vital contracts for 2026 and beyond, and ultimately to bring valuable tourists to our island.