Tourism mission to China a success

A tourism mission organised by Tourism Ireland’s China office, incorporated Shanghai and Beijing in a four-day journey last week.

Tourism organisations from across Ireland took part in the project which entailed a series of B2B workshops, networking events and media interviews for the participating Irish companies.

Face-to-face meetings were conducted with more than 60 Chinese tourism outlets – including leading travel agents and tour operators – to encourage them to include Ireland in their future holiday programmes and to recommend it as a destination of choice for their clients.

An astonishing 80% of Ireland’s tourism business comes from China. During their stay in Beijing and Shanghai members of the Irish delegation were also interviewed by influential Chinese travel writers.

Commenting on the longer-term potential of new and developing markets such as China for tourism to the island of Ireland, Susan Li, Tourism Ireland China, said: “The majority of Ireland’s overseas visitors are from the core markets of Great Britain, Mainland Europe and North America, and while this will continue, it is important that we expand our focus beyond these markets and look to the long-term opportunities presented by emerging tourism markets in Asia like China.

The World Tourism Organisation forecasts that the Asia-Pacific region will be one of the fastest growing outbound regions for travel, expanding by +6.5% on average over the next 15 years.

“Trade missions such as this provide a good opportunity for our Irish partners to develop their business links and enhance their relationships with key decision-makers, helping to grow their tourism business from China.

“Tourism Ireland in China is working hard to raise the profile of the island of Ireland as a premier holiday destination. We are highlighting the visa waiver scheme introduced by the Government earlier this year, which has made it easier for tourists from emerging tourism markets to visit Ireland.”

Source - insideireland.ie