Write a commentThere’s no business like show business for Edmund Hourican and Maureen Ledwith, the dynamic couple behind the Belfast Telegraph Holiday World show which last weekend celebrated twenty five years as the province’s favourite annual celebration of travel.
The show, staged in the Titanic Exhibition Centre, was at its sparkling and exuberant best for its silver anniversary, with attendance up by 10 per cent and hundreds of exhibitors showcasing destinations, venues and travel services at home and abroad.
Amongst the notable new names on show was Qatar Airways, revving up for a launch of services from Dublin in June, while Dublin Airport travelled North to market flights to 180 destinations, including 162 flights a week to 12 cities in the USA. The Oasis Travel Cruise Pavilion proved a ‘must-sea’ draw, while the Clubworld Travel Honeymoon & Wedding Destinations Pavilion encouraged show-goers to celebrate the romance of travel.
The show has come a long way from the first modest undertaking: a trade-only event held in the old ‘Threepenny Bit’ conference suite at the King’s Hall. Today the event is a massive three-shows-in-one affair, featuring the Belfast Telegraph Holiday World Show, the NI Camping and Caravanning Show and the 50+Village.
Edmund Hourican says, “Since we launched in 1992 we have enjoyed outstanding support not only from travel professionals based here, but also from the companies, tourism authorities, services and destinations which cater to the ever-expanding requirements of the Northern Irish holiday-makers. Many or our original exhibitors are still with us today, firm friends as well as business connexions, and many Holiday World visitors return year after year.”
Maureen adds, “We are hugely grateful to everyone who has helped to make Holiday World such a success over the years and we were absolutely thrilled that our twenty-fifth year has been such a highpoint.
“It was amazing, but we’re not about to rest on our laurels and we’re already planning how to make our twenty-sixth year even more special, for exhibitors and for visitors. It’s already time to get the dates in your 2018 diary: January 19th – 21st. See you all then!”
