Ireland's Ambassador to Canada, Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Saint Lucia, John Concannon, has highlighted Ireland's six-decade commitment to small, family-owned tourism enterprises as a potential model for Antigua and Barbuda's own small operators — while commending the twin-island nation's globally recognised tourism brand.
According to Antigua.news, Ambassador Concannon made the remarks alongside Shane Ryan, Director of Ireland's Office for the Caribbean, drawing a structural contrast between the two island economies.
Ireland's tourism sector, he explained, is built predominantly on small and medium-sized enterprises spanning accommodation, attractions, activities, and events. Antigua and Barbuda's, by contrast, is anchored largely by large-scale resorts and hotels — a distinction that carries meaningful economic implications for any tourism-dependent nation.
The Ambassador pointed to Ireland's Rural and Regional Development Agency, Údarás, as a key driver of that model. Since the mid-1960s, the agency has pursued a deliberate government policy of supporting small enterprises, setting industry standards, and empowering those businesses to strengthen the broader tourism sector.
The exchange of ideas between the two countries is already underway. During Governor-General Sir Rodney Williams and Lady Sandra Williams' visit to Ireland last year, the Irish delegation arranged meetings with the national tourist board and other agencies to share operational lessons from the Irish experience.
Ambassador Concannon said similar conversations took place with Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez during his own first visit to Antigua earlier this year.
