Ireland wins ‘Best Destination’ award in New York

Ireland has won a major travel award in the United States – ‘Best Destination in Europe’ – for the ninth year in a row. The award was presented to Tourism Ireland at the 20th annual Travel Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards in New York.

Ireland took the number one spot in the ‘best destination in Europe’ category – beating off tough competition from Italy, France, Greece, Spain and Croatia. Travel Weekly is the leading weekly newspaper for American travel agents and travel professionals and thousands of its readers voted in the various categories during the summer.

Ireland has won this award every year since 2014.

Accepting the award in New York, Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America, said: “We are delighted that Ireland has been singled out for the ninth year in a row for this prestigious award. Travellers nowadays have tremendous choice, which makes it more important than ever for us to ensure the island of Ireland stands out from other destinations – so this award is really good news, as we prepare to kick off another extensive and targeted promotional drive in 2023.” 

The United States remains an extremely important market for tourism to the island of Ireland. In 2019, we welcomed 1.7 million American visitors, whose visits delivered €1.6 billion for the economy.

Alison Metcalfe continued: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank our travel trade partners across the United States – who continue to play a hugely important role in helping us promote the island of Ireland. I would also like to acknowledge the hugely important contribution of our tourism partners from the island of Ireland, who joined us on the ground in the US this year, helping to spread the word about why Ireland is such a great choice for a vacation. We look forward to working together again in 2023.”

Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland, with the award for Ireland at the Travel Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards in New York.