Irish based, Leitrim Tourism, is in New York this week to launch a recruitment drive to increase the number of Leitrim Ambassadors in the US. The initiative is targeting people who come from Leitrim and are now living in New York, and the US, and is encouraging them to become advocates of their native county by creating awareness of what’s on offer and encouraging others to consider the beautiful county in the West of Ireland for future vacations.
 
The search for ambassadors was officially initiated last evening in the well known New York based Irish bar, Rosie O’Gradys. A large Leitrim contingent attended the event all entertained by famous Leitrim son, writer and actor, Seamus O’Rourke.
 
The event coincides with a GAA match which sees Leitrim’s Senior team take on New York in the Connacht Senior Football Championship.  The highly anticipated match takes place in Gaelic Park at 3pm on Sunday, 5th May. The quarter final of the Connacht championship is expected to attract a large crowd to Gaelic Park where Leitrim Tourism officials will be on hand to meet natives of the county and encourage them to take part in this new initiative.
 
In order to continue the success of the Gathering initiative Leitrim folk are being encouraged to tell their friends, family, neighbours and work colleagues about the County of Leitrim and to increase people’s awareness of what’s on offer to those who visit. This initiative seeks to build on the success of the 2013 year of the Gathering and encourages people to consider Lovely Leitrim for a future vacation next year and beyond.

Ireland’s tourist board ought to promote its heritage because it's unique heritage is what really gives it its competitive advantage in a world where everywhere is looking increasingly the same, writer and presenter Loyd Grossman told the Failte Ireland at the Irish tourism conference this week.

Northern Ireland will have a Game of Thrones tour that will take guests to some of the most exciting sites of HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones.” A start date has not yet been announced.

Tourism Ireland has announced the appointment of Alison Metcalfe as its new Head of North America.

More than one million people from the U.S. and Canada visited the island of Ireland in 2012, a three percent increase on the previous year according to figures recently released from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office. 

Tradition is well and good until you look at the sales receipts. That's the message coming from the Restaurant Association of Ireland, who are arguing that the time has come to lift the ban on the sale of alcohol on Good Friday.

Failte Ireland, Ireland’s National Tourism Development Authority, has said that The Gathering is already benefiting the Irish economy.

The Irish tourism board Failte Ireland (Welcome Ireland) is projecting there will strong growth in overall tourism numbers to Ireland in 2013, the result of serialized tourism marketing and The Gathering, a new tourism initiative that aims to attract 325,000 additional overseas visitors.

The Irish government’s tourism board, Fáilte Ireland, has named Portmagee in Co. Kerry as the winner of the National Tourism Towns Awards.

A festival for left handed people and an attempt to break a world record for bearded men are two of the 1,700 offbeat festivals announced for The Gathering, Ireland’s invitation for people to come reconnect with Ireland.

North American tourists who visited Ireland for the Notre Dame/Navy game provided a welcome boost to the economy.

Irish tourism officials have accused Gabriel Byrne of engaging in a "precious little rant" after he slammed the Gathering initiative as a money-making "scam".

Tourism Ireland has reached one million Facebook fans from around the world, an astonishing online success that makes it the third most popular tourism board, the Irish Examiner reports.

Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring has urged anyone interested in the Gathering Ireland 2013 to head along to one of the last three Town Hall meetings being held over the next two weeks in Mayo, Limerick, and Kerry.

Tourism Ireland has bought the domain name Ireland.com from the Irish Times for $640,541 (€495,000). The website will be unveiled as a new URL for the Irish tourism industry later this year.

Come one, come all was the tourism message delivered by two of the Irish government’s leading ministers during a special event at the Irish Consulate in New York on Wednesday evening.