Details have been revealed of Inspiring Sustainable Tourism Conference 2026. The event takes place on 22 January 2026 at Killeavy Castle Estate sponsored by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.
Theme of the conference will be ‘climate action, community and collaboration’. Killeavy Castle Estate was chosen as the venue for this conference because this business continuously shows great dedication to delivering positive impacts on its local, social and environmental landscape, while also reducing negative ones. Killeavy Castle Estate was also named Sustainable Hospitality & Tourism Business of the Year in 2024 and 2025 at the Business Eye Sustainability Awards. Killeavy Castle Estate is also a committed member of the Sustainable Tourism Network.
Contributors include:
- Seán McCabe, Head of Climate Justice and Sustainability, Bohemian Football Club. At Bohemian Football Club, Seán McCabe has built a team dedicated to developing inclusive and cooperative climate solutions that can benefit local communities and can be scaled throughout world football. The club actively promotes climate action through projects like the Bohemian Climate Co-operative and The Spark, fostering community wealth and accessible climate solutions. Seán has previously worked with the Mary Robinson Foundation and has more than 18 years experience in fields related to climate justice. His work combines grassroots action with international advocacy.
- Helen Raftery, CEO, Junior Achievement Ireland (JAI). Helen Raftery is CEO of Junior Achievement Ireland (JAI), working with 30 staff and 3,000 business volunteers each year to inspire and motivate young people to realise their potential by valuing education and gaining an understanding of how to succeed in the world of work. JAI works with business leaders, students, teachers and other educationalists across 160 supporting organisations to deliver JAI programmes to more than 63,000 pupils in primary and second levels across Ireland annually. Helen’s clarion call is the need to ensure young people get every opportunity to participate, enjoy and excel in the area of their choosing – be it technology, sport, cultural or academic pursuits.
- Joe Higgins, Head of Operations, Risk & Sustainability, Guinness Storehouse with Diageo Irish Brand Homes. Joe Higgins leads a team at the Guinness Storehouse with Diageo Irish Brand Homes that has achieved great sustainability strides across energy, waste, water, biodiversity conservation, and social justice. He is perhaps proudest of these social justice initiatives, which have included becoming accredited with AsIAm, Ireland’s national autism charity, and introducing a dedicated sensory friendly morning every month. Diageo Irish Brand Homes works with St. Michael’s House to offer employment opportunities, as well as with both Learning for Life and the Junior Achievement Ireland (JAI). JAI facilitates volunteers from Diageo Irish Brand Homes to spend time teaching and mentoring in local schools and welcomes students from those schools for work experience. The Guinness Storehouse builds on Guinness’s long standing legacy of local community support with several initiatives, most recently with the launch of the Guinness Dublin 8 Community Fund with Diageo Ireland, which sees €1 million being invested in local community initiatives and projects over five years.
- Kellie-Ann Hoey, Group Communications & Responsible Business Director, SHS Group. Kellie-Ann Hoey spearheads all internal and external corporate communications at SHS Group, alongside leading their responsible business initiatives. She has been instrumental in shaping the group’s responsible business journey and oversees the group’s wellbeing & inclusion, sustainability and community-engagement strategies. Kellie-Ann also chairs Business in the Community (BITC) NI’s CR Leaders Network and contributes to committees such as the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and GroceryAid. In 2023, she received the BITC Responsible Business Ambassador Award for her outstanding commitment to driving positive change both internally and externally. In 2025 SHS Group was named NI Responsible Company of the Year at BITC NI’s Responsible Business Awards.
- Adrian Martin, Director of Hospitality, Killeavy Castle Estate. Adrian Martin has 20+ years’ experience managing luxury hotels and heritage estates. As Director of Hospitality since March 2024, Adrian is committed to delivering world-class guest experiences while anchoring every aspect of the estate in a deep respect for heritage, community and the natural environment. Under his leadership, Killeavy Castle Estate builds on its pioneering ‘people & place’ ethos and has earned multiple sustainability awards, including ‘Sustainable Hospitality & Tourism Business of the Year’, recognising its zero-waste food programme, single-use plastic reduction, extensive recycling and composting, and a farm-to-fork model bringing estate produce from its gardens and farm to its restaurants. Killeavy is also undertaking a multi-year, £1.5 million landscape restoration project across its 365-acres, rewilding woodlands and farmland, planting native broadleaf species, enhancing biodiversity and fostering a carbon-positive environment.
- Darren Rice, Manager, Mourne Gullion Strangford UNESCO Global Geopark. Darren Rice has worked since the early 2000s to connect people with the natural, cultural and built heritage of the Mourne Gullion Strangford UNESCO Global Geopark. He leads a wide range of projects, from restoring peatlands and creating woodlands to protecting wildlife, supporting pollinators and engaging people with the marine environment. His work is rooted in partnership, where councils, charities, landowners and volunteers collaborate to achieve lasting impact on the ground.
- Joe McGirr, Founder, The Boatyard Distillery. Joe McGirr is the founder of The Boatyard Distillery, Fermanagh’s first legal distillery since 1890. Joe set up the business with an ambition to make a gin so perfect for Martinis that it would be poured in the world’s finest bars and restaurants around the world. The business launched a Green Team called ‘Better Boatyard’ in 2022 with the task of improving the overall sustainability and governance of the business. This led to the business becoming the first distillery on the island of Ireland to gain the prestigious B Corp Certification in 2023.
The conference is organised by the Sustainable Tourism Network (formerly Sustainable Travel Ireland) and its recently launched sister company, the Sustainable Business Network.
Philip Campbell, Chairperson of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, shared, “Newry, Mourne and Down District Council are delighted to support the Sustainable Tourism Conference at Killeavy Castle Estate, a truly fitting venue that showcases the natural beauty and heritage of the Mourne, Gullion, Strangford Geo Park. This conference reflects our ongoing commitment to promoting sustainable tourism that benefits our local communities, protects our environment, and celebrates what makes Mourne, Gullion Strangford such a unique destination.”
Rpb Rankin shared, “Our Inspiring Sustainable Tourism conference aims to educate and empower businesses about the actions they can take to put sustainability at the heart of their operations and locations. And we’ll show them how it can help not just the planet, but also boost the reputation, image and bottom line of both the location and the business they work in. Tourists are demanding more environmentally friendly and sustainable products and they are not happy when they can’t get them. So the tourism industry must step up – both to do the right thing by future generations and to meet their customers’ demand.
“Sustainability is about much more than just the environment. It’s tourism that seeks to balance the needs of visitors, the tourism industry, the environment and host communities. It is built on the ‘triple bottom line’ of environmental management, economic health and social responsibility. In essence, sustainable tourism aims to minimise negative impacts, such as environmental degradation, overcrowding and cultural dilution, and maximise positive contributions, like job creation, cultural preservation and environmental and biodiversity protection.”
Mick Boyle, owner of Killeavy Castle Estate shared: “Sustainability and regenerative tourism efforts are at the core of everything that we do on our estate, with the aim of providing our guests with luxury Northern Irish hospitality, whilst protecting and indeed enhancing our natural environment. This year, we have forged ahead on our sustainability journey, introducing solar panels to our hotel and farm store, and we have planted over 27,000 native broadleaf trees on the slopes of Slieve Gullion, which will in time create a biodiversity corridor across the estate and into the adjoining forest park. We look forward to welcoming businesses from across Ireland to attend the conference at Killeavy Castle Estate in January and to showcasing what this beautiful region, and indeed our own estate, are doing to enhance our natural environment, community and tourism experiences.”
