Staff Writer
Area courting Irish trade
A delegation of Jacksonville business and government leaders witnessed the lush greens of Ireland’s landscape recently, but they hope the trip produces a different kind of green for the area.
The Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Cornerstone Regional Development Partnership continued its efforts to develop business relationships with Western Ireland through Atlantic Way, the equivalent of Jacksonville’s Cornerstone.
“It was a very productive trip,” said Mike Breen, director of Cornerstone’s International Department. “There are eight areas that we plan to follow up on from discussions with business leaders involved in the Atlantic Way.”
The Atlantic Way covers a region of Ireland that includes a deepwater port and the Shannon International Airport, which was the world’s first duty-free airport.
The region is also home to a population of more than one million people, which is another similarity to Jacksonville. Leaders from each region’s business and government sectors met the week of June 14 to further develop a relationship begun more than a year ago.
Breen explained that the group plans to follow up on cargo and passenger service between Shannon and Jacksonville; shipping and logistics with an emphasis on bulk cargo; the development of clean technology businesses; business-to-business contacts; tourism opportunities; a business leadership exchange; and medical tourism.
Jacksonville Aviation Authority Executive Director and CEO Steve Grossman participated in the trip to inquire about air service between the two regions.
“We decided that there wasn’t enough demand right now,” said Grossman. “But we would work with our respective tourism agencies to develop flights between the two regions, in the distant future.”
Currently the only flight from Ireland to Florida is Dublin to Orlando, but if Jacksonville could better access that market, then tourism opportunities could be explored.
“We talked particularly about golf tourism,” said Breen. “It’s a good situation because when it is winter here, our golfers could go over there, and when it is winter there, their golfers could come here.”
Other tourism opportunities being discussed are creating a regular rugby exhibition between Munster, a storied team in Ireland, and the Jacksonville Axemen, and developing a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Jacksonville.
“Savannah does a great job of hosting St. Patrick’s Day events,” said Breen. “While it would take us a good amount of time to develop something to that scale, we would like to have an event like that in Jacksonville, and we are tapping into these new relationships to help us make that happen.”
Another benefit for travelers in developing tourism between the two regions is that the Shannon International Airport is home to the only U.S. Customs Preclearance location outside of the Americas.
“That eliminates one of the headaches of international travel,” said City Council member Art Graham. “You take care of getting your bags checked at the beginning of the flight and it makes the rest of the trip a lot smoother.”
Lindsay Rossman, senior director of corporate communications for Visit Jacksonville, was interested in tapping into the Western Ireland market for Jacksonville businesses.
“When people in Europe show a map of Florida, they show the state from Orlando down,” said Rossman, “so it was our job to let them know about a whole other area of the state that they are missing out on.”
One characteristic of the region that members of the Jacksonville delegation really noticed was the hospitality of its people.
“I was surprised by the genuine hospitality everyone expressed and shared with our group,” said Mike Hightower, past chamber chair. “We take pride in our Southern hospitality, but they could teach us a thing or two. They really went out of their way to make us feel at home.”
A delegation from Atlantic Way will return to Jacksonville in the fall to continue discussions.
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