Fáilte Ireland has confirmed that 85 international conferences worth €48.5 million have been secured for Ireland so far this year, and are due to take place between now and 2027.
These include conferences such as Transport Research Arena 2024, which will take place in Dublin and will be worth €4.8m, and the International Federation for Home Economics World Congress 2024, which will take place in Galway and will be worth €2.4m.
The National Tourism Development Authority is looking to drive further business event wins for the country over the coming days at IMEX America in Las Vegas, which is one of the largest global meetings industry trade shows in the world.
"For a small country, Ireland has always punched above its weight in wining business events," said Paul Kelly, CEO of Fáilte Ireland.
"Prior to Covid-19, business tourism had been one of the fastest growing segments of the Irish tourism industry, contributing more than €716 million annually to the economy and supporting up to 20,000 jobs.
"This sector is highly specialised, lucrative and high yielding for Ireland because each business tourism visitor generates almost three times the tourism revenue than that of a leisure tourist," he said.
Fáilte Ireland said a central focus of its pitch this year will be on growing business events into regional Ireland.
So far, almost 50% of Fáilte Ireland's business tourism wins are for locations outside Dublin through the Regional Convention Bureaux in Shannon, Cork, Kerry and Galway.
Fáilte Ireland's Head of Commercial Development Paul Mockler, said the team is currently working on a pipeline of opportunities worth almost €1bn for events due to take place up to 2033.
"Tradeshows like IMEX America are a key opportunity to leverage our work over the past 18 months and secure major overseas meetings, conferences and events for the years ahead.
"We have 36 top-class Irish industry joining us, and they are showcasing the very best that Ireland has to offer," he said.
