By Sean Moriarty

Over 700 people from over 20 different countries are expected to descend on Killarney next month - which is sure to bring an economic boost to the town.

The INEC will host Ireland's and the world's largest business-to-business international travel trade fair from March 31 and April 1.

Meitheal is a two day workshop that gives the Irish tourism industry and overseas tourism buyers from all over the world the opportunity to meet and do business.

This is the first time since 2019 that the workshop can take place in person.

Participants are expected to be made up of approximately 300 overseas buyers and 400 Irish industry partners.

Over 13,500 appointments are conducted over the two days with many new and important contracts signed.

“If there’s one event in the calendar that tourism buyers and suppliers from all around the world look forward to with particular anticipation, that’s Meitheal. For over 10 years Fáilte Ireland has been running this annual travel trade fair, one of the largest in the world,” said Fáilte Ireland’s Suzanne Coogan.

The last ‘in person’ trade fare took place in Dublin in April 2019. The last two have been online only events.