Vol. 563 No. 4
239 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the meetings his Department had with the tourism sector on the recent visit to Chicago; the number of groups met; if the tourism brief given by the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism was used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8205/03]
Successive Irish Governments have traditionally availed of the period around St. Patrick's Day to capitalise on the goodwill and unparalleled opportunities generated by the celebrations to promote Ireland around the world, including highlighting Ireland as an attractive tourist destination.
My colleague at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Minister of State Deputy Roche, travelled to Chicago from 13 until 16 March to participate in the St. Patrick's Day celebrations there and carried out a full programme of events and meetings. He found his media engagements to be particularly useful as a method of promoting tourism to Ireland and, in this regard, the positive television coverage of the Chicago downtown parade and the southside parade, both of which he attended, was very helpful. Minister of State Roche also availed of the opportunity to promote tourism to Ireland in each of his many speaking engagements. These included events at the Irish Fellowship Club, the Irish-American Partnership Breakfast and a function organised by the IDA which focused on the promotion of trade and investment.
Officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs met with their counterparts in the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism in advance of the visit and Deputy Roche has expressed his appreciation to those officials for the comprehensive briefing material on tourism issues which was very valuable during the visit.
