WE ALL know the travel industry is rife with rumours and there was no exception when the Northern Ireland Tourist Board staged a recent roadshow in Wakefield.
In order to lure agents along, the NITB tantalisingly revealed that a top Irish personality would be appearing to provide the event with a touch of glamour and host the evening’s Family Fortunes-style quiz.
However, the celebrity’s identity was kept a closely guarded secret as the NITB believed the suspense would draw in the crowds.
Of course, withholding information tends to lead to speculation and sheer guess work.
A lot of people somehow became convinced that teen idol Ronan Keating from Boyzone was the personality in question to host the event.
The rumour spread like wildfire and on the night more than 200 agents, made up largely of young, over excited teenagers who were longing to meet their idol, crammed into the hall for the quiz, dubbed by the NITB as the ‘Bright Side of the Roadshow’.
As the expectant audience waited with bated breath, Ronan stepped from the shadows…only Ronan turned out to be ageing Irish comic Frank Carson.
“A great hush descended over the hall,” said one source. “All the teenage girls had convinced themselves that Ronan was the guest.
“You can imagine the let down when Frank Carson walked in.”
Nevertheless, the night was an unprecedented success for the NITB.
NITB general manager Jim Paul said:”We had never seen so many agents at one of our events before.
“It was fantastic. Where the rumour came from about Ronan Keating I have no idea, but Frank went down a storm once the Boyzone fans had got over their initial shock.”
One small point of information may have dispelled the rumours early on – the boy band hero is, in fact, from Dublin in Ireland and not from Northern Ireland!
Wakey wakey Wakefield!