Successful US trip

SHANNON Development, in association with the North American Advisory Council (NAAC), held a number of influential networking events and one-to-one business meetings in New York, recently, aimed at securing American investment in the Mid-West.
One of the highlights of the visit was a successful Shannon Region Information Evening held at the residence of the Consul General of Ireland in New York and hosted by his Excellency, Noel Kilkenny. The NAAC was initiated by Shannon Development in 2009 to assist with leveraging more strategic investment for business and tourism in the region. It consists of high-profile business people with Irish connections who have pledged to act as business ambassadors.
Dr Vincent Cunnane, CEO of Shannon Development, noted, “Tourism continues to be one of the key economic drivers in the Shannon Region, employing more than 25,000 people in over 1,000 tourism businesses and attracting over 1.8 million visitors last year.
“One of the primary purposes of the US visit was to promote the new Shannon Region Airline Route Support Fund, which will assist Shannon Airport compete more effectively for international air connectivity and to stimulate demand for Shannon Airport routes for the benefit of both inbound tourism and businesses in the region.”
He said Shannon Development has been seeking ­expressions of interest for the development of a new international visitor attraction on a 120 acre site at Bunratty. This was promoted at a Shannon Region Information evening and Flan Quilligan, tourism product development manager with Shannon Development, said there had been a good level of interest.
“Shannon Development was very pleased with the turnout for the event and the level of interest expressed in the 120 acre landbank site at Bunratty.
“The audience included major theme park operators, attractions developers, representatives from the financial services and legal sectors, leading public relations firms and philanthropic associations with particular interest in Ireland.
“Subsequent to the event, Shannon Development is in follow-up discussions with a number of key contacts with a view to securing good-quality expressions of interest in developing the Bunratty site.
“Following consideration of the current situation and the timing of the investment promotional campaign, it has been decided to extend the deadline date for receipt of expressions of interest from end of March to end of May 2012,” Mr Quilligan added.