THERE MAY BE more than 8,000 kilometres between their capital cities, but a new plan aims to encourage Chinese tourists to come visit Ireland on their holidays.
The joint campaign between Tourism Ireland and one of the biggest travel companies in China is trying to get people to come visit Ireland in the winter months between now and early next year.
From this week, there will be virtual reality displays in 30 stores around Beijing which will show footage of the Wild Atlantic Way and Belfast to prospective tourists. Package holidays will also be on sale in the stores.
Around 100 million Chinese travel overseas every year – up from just 10 million in 2000. Some 45,000 Chinese tourists came to Ireland last year.
“Our aim is to win a greater share of the 4 million Chinese visitors who travel to Europe each year,” said James Kenny, Tourism Ireland’s manager for China.
Visitors from China are more likely to stay longer in Ireland than other tourists, and spend more than other visitors, Tourism Ireland has found – perhaps no surprise given the distance and the cost involved in coming this far.
Around 9.5 million people visited Ireland from overseas last year.
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