This article is from page 33 of the 2010-02-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 33 JPG
THE majestic view from the Cliffs of Moher stretched all the way to Sanya in the southern Hainan Province of China last week as a delegation from the Cliffs of Moher Experience took part in a special trade mission look- ing for new tourism business.
Representatives from the cliffs, along with a number of other tour- ism partners from around Ireland, were involved in the trade mission which was organised together with Visit Britain and Tourism Ireland in China.
The trip consisted of a number of face-to-face workshops, presenta-
tions and networking events with influential Chinese travel agents, the trade mission provided an excel- lent platform for the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre and other participants to showcase their tourism product and to communicate what is unique about the island of Ireland.
Through the course of the two-day mission, face-to-face meetings were conducted with more than 60 key Chinese decision-makers, encour- aging them to include the island of Ireland in their future holiday pro- eae DOOD ENLACE
‘The majority of overseas tourists to the island of Ireland continue to come from the core markets of Brit-
ain, mainland Europe and North America and, while this will con- tinue, it is important that we expand our focus beyond these markets and look to the long-term opportunities presented by the markets in Asia like China,’ said Jim Paul, Tourism Ire- land’s Head of New and Developing Markets.
“Britain 1s a very popular desti- nation for Chinese travellers, so it makes sense for Tourism Ireland to co-operate with Visit Britain, to tar- get those Chinese visitors travelling to Great Britain and encourage them to visit the island of Ireland as part OM slo pum nul Oe
“Tourism Ireland believes that the
Asian outbound travel market is set for significant growth in the coming years. In particular, China offers sig- nificant business potential for tour- ism enterprises around the island of Ireland. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisa- tion (UNWTO), the Asia-Pacific re- gion will be one of the fastest-grow- ing outbound regions, expanding by more than 6.5 per cent on average over the next I5 years.
“Visitors from markets like China stay twice as long as the average hol- idaymaker, are more likely to travel throughout the island and make a significant economic contribution to numerous tourism sectors.”