Record numbers of Chinese tourists are coming to Ireland providing a major boost to Irish tourism.
The news comes as figures published by Tourism Ireland show that overseas visitors to Ireland rose 11 per cent in the year to the end of August 2011.
The dramatic boost in figures is said to be down to a new visa waiver scheme entitling Chinese visitors to Britain to visit Ireland on the same visa.
Leo Varadkar, the Irish Tourism Minister said “the visa waiver scheme is attracting a lot of interest and the number of Chinese groups visiting in summer 2011 has doubled on the previous year.” Chinese tourism operators are said to be flocking to Ireland, keen to develop package tours and promotions, to take advantage of the increasing number of visitors to the country.
Over the next few years, the Chinese market is set to become Ireland’s fastest growing segment, with talks surrounding direct flights to Beijing already underway.
This boost is proving to offer some hope of recovery for Irish tourism, coming at just the right time. 83 hotels and golf centres were shut down because of the recession and over 1,000 pubs have closed.
The Irish government has targeted tourism as a key sector to create jobs. It introduced a visa waiver plan to make it easier for non-European tourists to enter the country.“There is a real recovery but it is a different story in each of our markets,” says Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, adding “Ireland has turned the corner this year all we need is more stability to grow”.
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