The Association of Irish Professional Conference Organisers said today that the economic impact of delegates attending their conferences in 2023 amounted to a total of €176m.
A total of 94,000 delegates attended events planned by AIPCO members last year, over 25,000 more than 2022 - an increase of 38%.
AIPCO members also delivered events in other countries which attracted 33,000 delegates last year. 35% of the revenue from these events comes back to the Irish economy through fees.
The group holds its annual Business Tourism Conference in Powerscourt Hotel, Co Wicklow today.
Today's conference attracted a record number of attendees this year with over 240 business tourism professionals attending. The conference was also addressed by Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media Catherine Martin.
The Chairperson of AIPCO, Greg Carew, said that while the growth in delegate numbers is encouraging, attracting talent is still a challenge the industry is facing.
"Events very much came back with a bang in 2023 and our members had an extremely busy year organising multiple conferences with reduced staff levels," Mr Carew said.
"We are putting a huge amount of work into finding and investing in talent to build up teams so we can continue to deliver with excellence and drive more international conferences to Ireland," he said.
"In order to truly unlock the potential of our events and our sector, we need to ensure we have the talent, skills and resources in place to reach the standards of quality we pride ourselves on when hosting an event in Ireland," he added.
Minister Catherine Martin said today that the Business Tourism Conference is always a very important date in the Irish tourism calendar.
"It is especially pleasing to note that the AIPCO Conference has attracted a record attendance this year, particularly given the importance of business events to Ireland's overall tourism offering," the Minister said.
"It was clear to me today how strong the appetite is throughout the industry to work together to unlock the full potential of this exciting tourism segment. It was also great to be informed of the plans of the agencies who are working together under the Meet In Ireland brand to promote Ireland as a world-class business events destination. The potential in this sector is very exciting," she added.
