A turf war has broken out between the two State tourism agencies, Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland, over the latter’s plans to place staff in the United States and Europe to tempt wealthy foreigners to holiday in Ireland. It is understood that Tourism Ireland wrote to the Minister for Tourism, Shane Ross, to complain about Fáilte Ireland’s plan because it feared that it cut across its responsibilities. Tourism Ireland is the agency formally mandated to market Ireland abroad. Tourism Ireland did not directly address specific queries from The Irish Times over the concerns it raised with the Government. The June tender from Fáilte Ireland was for a three-year contract to place agents in the US, Canada and across Europe to generate sales leads for business tourism.

Source: The Irish Times October 14, 2019 02:15 UTC