Interview with Alice Mansergh, CEO, Tourism Ireland

18 Oct Interview with Alice Mansergh, CEO, Tourism Ireland

What does the USA represent as a source market for Irish tourism and what makes Ireland such a compelling destination for US visitors?

There is a real connection between the USA and Ireland. We’re neighbors, with just the Atlantic in between. For visitors from the USA to Ireland, there is a sense of exploring somewhere new but also coming home. Around 10% of Americans – about 30 million people – claim Irish roots. Whether you are Irish, you feel Irish or you just want to explore Ireland, there are strong links between the two countries. Traditional Irish music has heavily influenced country music in the USA and half of American presidents have traced Irish ancestry back to the island of Ireland.

The USA is Ireland’s largest market in terms of visitor spending but we know there remains potential for further growth in attracting US visitors to Ireland. There are 23 gateways for direct flights from the USA to Ireland, including from cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Denver and Los Angeles. We work with airline partners to ensure easy access for both business and leisure travelers. We encourage people to come and experience places like EPIC, The Irish Emigration Museum and the Ulster American Folk Park, where US visitors can actively trace their roots.

US visitors also find our golf very appealing and Ireland has world-class golfing infrastructure. The Ryder Cup will be held in Ireland next year. St. Patrick’s Day is in March and is a huge festival that attracts more than 100,000 people to Ireland, mainly to Dublin and Belfast. Halloween is one of America’s favorite festivals, however, not everyone knows that it began in Ireland as the Celtic festival of Samhain around 2,000 years ago and has been celebrated here ever since. The original jack-o-lantern was a turnip. People come to festivals like Derry Halloween or the Púca Festival in County Meath to experience the deep heritage of this much-loved festival.

Another element that has been transformed in recent years is culinary tourism. Visitors are now able to experience incredible food that comes from our landscapes at a very high level. We celebrated a landmark moment when the Michelin Awards for Europe were held in Dublin for the first time ever in February 2026. There are now 25 Michelin-starred restaurants across Ireland and Northern Ireland and we are looking forward to telling these stories.

Business travel is also an important part of the picture. We want to ensure enterprises know that we can deliver world-class conferences and that we are well connected through direct flights. Ireland is also home to the European headquarters of many US companies. This gives us a very cosmopolitan outlook and has helped us develop fresh skills. At the same time, many Irish companies have set up operations in the USA, making trade a two-way street, just as tourism is a two-way street.

What role does Tourism Ireland play in promoting Ireland as a destination and supporting the continued growth of its tourism industry?

Tourism Ireland operates on an island-wide basis. We promote the entire island of Ireland and work with policies for Ireland and Northern Ireland. In the South, a new tourism policy was launched in 2025 that targets around 50% growth in overseas visitor spending by 2031. The initiative is not solely focused on an economic basis, but on providing sustainable job growth across regions and seasons. Tourism represents a large part of the economy of rural communities. Around 10% of jobs in Ireland are supported by tourism and 70% of these jobs are outside of Dublin and Belfast. For the policy to succeed, we are encouraging people to visit across seasons, so that jobs last year-round. We are also encouraging people to visit different regions.

In terms of marketing, Tourism Ireland does two things. First, we reach out directly to potential visitors through our consumer marketing. Our new global campaign is called Ireland Goes Beyond. It showcases how Ireland goes beyond expectations as a destination, by inviting people in to have deeper connections with people and places. This initiative has been live since January 2026 and has been very well received. Second, we work on publicity, including popular TV shows like Ireland with Michael, which features the singer Michael Londra; and Nevin’s Food Trails, which is coming to PBS and showcases Irish food experiences. We co-invest in these broadcasts. We are also very active on social media, posting every day of the week.

On the partnership side, we work closely with the entire travel industry, both at home and overseas. We enable business interactions through initiatives like our Best of Ireland sales mission, a roadshow in the USA that brings together Irish tourism businesses across the value chain – from castle accommodations to whiskey tours to travel agents on the ground in the USA. The idea is to help businesses meet, so that those selling travel in the USA have a deep understanding of what Ireland offers. We use this as a platform to allow small businesses to pitch their products.

Tourism Ireland actively connects SMEs to 15 or more overseas markets, including the USA. We have an office in San Francisco that serves the West Coast. We help SMEs meet tour operators, the travel trade and the travel press to help increase visibility. We represent the overseas part of the support and Fáilte Ireland and Tourism NI work on the ground here, to help businesses with infrastructure development and business models. One thing that Ireland does very well is building authenticity. The industry is island-wide – including Northern Ireland and Ireland – and is made up of around 50,000 small businesses, from a sheep farmer who is showing you sheepdog demonstrations on their land or a family showing you how they’ve made cider from local apples for generations.

How has digitization transformed Ireland’s tourism sector, and what is being done to help local businesses use digital tools more effectively to attract visitors?

The travel world is changing so fast. There is currently a bit of a digital paradox. Travel is one of the most digital industries in the world, with around 80% of bookings made online. In comparison, only 20% or 30% of purchases are made online in retail. After travelling, people remain focused on the digital element, with nearly half of all visitors posting pictures online. About a third of all potential visitors are now using artificial intelligence to build their travel itineraries.  However, the paradox is that while tourism is very digital before and after travel, when actually on vacation, visitors are looking for time away from a screen, time to enjoy real life experiences, the local welcome, the authenticity and time in nature that Ireland does so well.

Fáilte Ireland has a program called Digital that Delivers that helps small businesses update their digital assets so people can successfully book online and interact with AI chatbots. It is critical that businesses re-optimize websites and online assets. In the past, it was said that people spent around five hours researching online to book trips. Increasingly, people are using AI to shorten this process and we’re ensuring Ireland can still be found as consumer behavior evolves.

What is being done to showcase Ireland as a top destination for sustainable tourism?

There is strong industry support to help businesses become more energy efficient and adopt sustainable practices. Half of all overseas visitors now factor in sustainability when choosing travel destinations. We are happy to report that more than half of overseas visitors think Ireland is a sustainable destination. Visitors are increasingly aware and want to mitigate any damage done to local communities and the places they visit. The tourism industry in Ireland is focused on delivering green products such as cycle paths into nature. Many European countries have seen a heavy pushback from tourism. However, nine out of 10 people in Ireland view tourism as positive for their community. We are now making sure businesses have proper itineraries and are properly linked so visitors can easily explore what they have to offer.

We launched our Ireland Unrushed campaign across 15 overseas markets, with the major theme being to slow down and experience more. The initiative is focused on regional tourism. We believe the best visitor experiences are in places that are not overly crowded, such as being on a magical walking trail or a secluded beach, or at a local castle or abbey with local people showing you around. We are also showcasing alternative means of travel. While some visitors are happy to rent a car, others prefer to go by bus or train. Industry response to Ireland Unrushed has been very strong. Industry leaders, hotels and attractions have gotten involved. Ireland Unrushed resonates with visitors’ views of what Ireland is and provides an outlet for year-round travel. In terms of year-round travel, Ireland has a very temperate and mild climate; it’s rarely outrageously hot or outrageously cold.

People tell us they come for the scenery and greenery we are famous for, the Wild Atlantic Way, the Causeway Coast, the River Shannon or inland waterways. They also come for history and heritage. US visitors love that in one moment they could be in a mediaeval castle in Blarney and the next at a prehistoric monument that dates back earlier than the Egyptian pyramids, such as Newgrange in the Boyne Valley. There is strong interest in our culture: the storytelling, the music, Irish dance and the sense of fun we are known for. There are no strangers here in Ireland, only friends you haven’t met yet.