Tourism Ireland has this month welcomed industry expert, Caroline Mulligan, to their Business & Sports Tourism team.

In her role in the Business & Sports Tourism Team Caroline will be tasked with increasing the number of sports groups visiting Ireland from Great Britain, in particular promoting the islands� specialist golf offering from her base in Tourism Ireland�s Scottish office.

With over 20 years experience in the business tourism and travel fields, Caroline brings extensive knowledge of Ireland�s product offering, and is experienced in promoting the destination to the international market.

David Boyce, Deputy Director Great Britain at Tourism Ireland comments: �We are delighted to welcome Caroline to the Business & Sports Tourism team. Her expertise and skills in promoting Ireland to our audience in Great Britain places her in a strong position to continue our successes to date�.

Caroline adds: �It is an exciting time to be part of Tourism Ireland. I look forward to strengthening the island�s value perception and enhancing destination excitement based on its excellent sporting facilities, especially with new developments such as the AVIVA stadium in Dublin due to open in 2010 and in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games�.

Caroline was previously the Marketing assistant for Tourism Ireland and played a key role in developing one of the biggest promotional events in the Great British market - �bringing a little Taste of Ireland to Glasgow� on St Patrick�s weekend in both 2008 and 2009.

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For more information or to arrange an interview please contact: Philippa Martin at Davies Tanner Email: philippa.martin@daviestanner.co.uk Tel: 01892 619100

Notes to Editors:

Tourism Ireland is the international wing of Irish tourism, representing all Irish business tourism members and venues.

Established under the framework of the Belfast Agreement of Good Friday 1998, it is jointly funded by the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive and operates under the auspices of the North South Ministerial Council through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism in the South. Tourism Ireland employs 160 people in key source markets, including Great Britain, USA and Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Australia. It also has offices on the island of Ireland, in Coleraine and Dublin, and has now further extended its reach to include emerging tourist markets such as Japan, South Africa, New Zealand, China, India, Poland, Israel, Asia and the Middle East