Kilbeggan Distillery puts Westmeath tourism in global spotlight

Kilbeggan Distillery helped put Westmeath on the international tourism map on Monday of last week when it joined Tourism Ireland at a major tourism workshop in London.

The historic Westmeath attraction was among 65 tourism businesses from across Ireland taking part in Tourism Ireland’s annual ‘Flavours of Ireland’ event, which connected Irish tourism operators with around 100 global inbound tour operators.

The event gave Kilbeggan Distillery an opportunity to showcase its whiskey experience to influential travel companies from markets including the United States, mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa.

The participating tour operators were preparing itineraries and contracts for 2027 and beyond, giving Kilbeggan and other regional attractions an opportunity to secure future international visitors.

Around 1,170 commercial meetings were held during the workshop, with Tourism Ireland highlighting the potential for the event to generate more regional and longer-stay tourism across Ireland.

Kilbeggan Distillery was represented at the London event by Ruth Wyer. Its participation provided an important opportunity to promote Kilbeggan and the wider Westmeath area as part of Ireland’s international tourism offering.

Tourism Ireland’s Head of Global Partnerships, Aisling McDermott, said the event aimed to increase awareness of Ireland among influential international tour operators and secure a greater share of the global travel market.

She said the businesses attending offered a diverse range of experiences, from castles and gardens to whiskey distilleries and hotels.

Global inbound tour operators brought around 250,000 visitors to Ireland in 2025, while overseas tourism generated more than €6.4 billion for the island.

The event was expected to help generate tourism business for Ireland, including regional destinations such as Westmeath, from 2027 onwards.