OREANDA-NEWS. Miami-Dade Aviation Director Emilio T. Gonzalez hosted a group of high-level officials from the Republic of Ireland at Miami International Airport today to pursue new tourism and trade ties between the European Union member nation and Miami-Dade County.

"I commend Director Gonzalez for continuing to promote our community to interested parties around the globe," said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. "Ireland represents another exciting potential market for Miami-Dade County in terms of new travel, trade and business ties."

The visiting Irish delegation was led by Ireland's Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sports Leo Varadkar and included Atlanta-based Consul General of Ireland Paul Gleeson and representatives from the Port of Cork, Ireland. The group is attending the Cruise Shipping Miami 2014 conference this week and took the opportunity to meet with the Aviation Director to discuss the possibility of Miami-Ireland air service. Ireland is a growing market for the cruise industry and the willingness of Irish passengers to travel abroad to board ships is creating demand for new air connections. Additionally, Dublin Airport houses a dedicated U.S. Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance facility that allows international passengers bound for the U.S. to complete all immigration and customs inspections at Dublin prior to departure, rather than upon arrival at their U.S. destination.

"It was a pleasure to meet with Minister Varadkar and the Irish delegation at MIA today and explore the possibility of forging direct links to a nation that has had such a large hand in shaping our own," said Director Gonzalez. "Both parties see the potential of capitalizing on our cultural and historic ties in order to forge mutually beneficial commercial opportunities going forward."