THE Minister for Tourism and Trade said yesterday that the marketing of Ireland as a quality destination for international tourists could best be promoted through its people, who were its greatest tourism strength".
Addressing the general assembly of the European Travel Commission (ETC) in Ashford Castle, Co Mayo, Mr Kenny said that the new "branding" logo for marketing Ireland abroad would be made public next month.
"We are looking for an image that reflects a new Ireland, a new time and a new century, and not one that has been used over the last 25 years. The shamrock is not being removed as a corporate logo, but we will be moving away from a concentration on images like the thatched cottage.
"What we want is to market Ireland as a quality destination, for quality to be the key word in terms of price, personnel and service. And our tourist strength here is the Irish people", he said.
Prof Urbain Claeys, chief executive of the Belgian Tourist Board, said the main aim of the ETC was to extend the tourist catchment area for Europe beyond the US and into areas such as South East Asia, Australia and Canada.
Ms Francoise Ducret, the ETC representative in Canada, said that her visit to Ireland had shown her a wonderful new destination. "It will also be very popular with Canadians, because it has such a mild climate compared to where I live", she said.
Mr Matt McNulty, the director general of Bord Failte, said he was very pleased with the performance of the Irish tourism industry, which was experiencing a growth rate five times the world average. "We get great compliments from our colleagues in Europe because we rate tourism so highly", he added.