Top travel bloggers descended upon Kildare for TBEX Ireland Summit at the weekend
By Kim O'Leary
The world’s top travel bloggers experienced the best of county Kildare during the TBEX Ireland Summit which was held at Kilkea Castle this weekend.
Kildare Tourism Board organised an afternoon of activities to mark the visit of 20 of the world’s top travel social influencers – with a combined social reach of 10.5 million followers – to Kildare.
The bloggers are the world’s leading travel influencers and are all members of the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) – the world’s largest gathering of travel bloggers, writers, new media content creators and social media travel industry professionals.
The Summit at #TBEXIreland saw them take part in moderated group discussions on best practices in influencer marketing, online content creation, and the future of travel media.
On arrival at the newly-reopened Kilkea Castle, the bloggers were offered an array of interactive activities organised by Kildare Tourism Board.
County Kildare Tourism Development Manager Aine Mangan said: “Working with Kilkea Castle, we organised an afternoon showcasing some of the activities that County Kildare has to offer, under the umbrella of Get up, Get out, Explore.”
After starting with falconry and archery, the attendees got to try their hand at cutting turf, which was brought to Kilkea by the team at Lullymore Heritage and Discovery Park, later highlighting the Shackleton Trail through the story of the James Caird 100 lifeboat installation on the River Greese beside the first tee on the hotel’s golf course.
Ms Mangan said: “The bloggers were fascinated by the story of Kilkea native Shackleton and the 1200km voyage of the James Caird lifeboat to rescue the remaining crew members of the Endurance. We also presented them with local gifts in the form of a Carveon leather notebook and pen, a Newbridge Silverwear travel clock and a piece of turf from Lullymore to take home.”
She added: “This weekend was an exceptional opportunity to highlight the best of Kildare with people who have the ability to tell over 10.5 million people about our tourism offering.”
The TBEX bloggers spent Sunday exploring the creative marketing possibilities of pairing technology, talent, and audience for common-growth business goals.