Tourism Ireland is doubling its marketing investment in China to €1m and double its marketing team to 12 as part of drive to attract 200,000 Chinese tourists to the island of Ireland by 2025. According to Tourism Ireland, an estimated 100,000 Chinese tourists visited these shores in 2018.
Apart from the doubling of its marketing team, a key part of the plan will be the appointment of new digital and PR agencies and the establishment of a presence in Hong Kong for the first time.
The announcement was made this week as part of a trade delegation to China and a further delegation is planned for Autumn.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “Our review of emerging tourism markets confirmed China as a market of considerable opportunity for us. China is the largest outbound travel market in the world and one that Tourism Ireland is committed to growing over the coming years. Last year, we welcomed an estimated 100,000 Chinese visitors to the island of Ireland; the introduction of direct flights to Dublin has been a major game-changer and offers a real opportunity for us. Our aim now is to capitalise on the changing travel patterns in China to grow Chinese visitor numbers to 200,000 by 2025 and, in particular, to grow the number of high end individual Chinese travellers to the island of Ireland.”
