China in our hands

Irish tourism bosses are looking east for visitors, hopeful of attracting some of the region’s wealthiest, writes John Daly

THINGS are shaping up nicely to make 2013 a possible ‘Year of the Chinese’ for a needy Irish tourism industry. As one of the biggest tourism markets in the world, China is slowly starting to get the Emerald Isle on its destination radar in a fairytale romance brimming with potential happy endings.

Last month’s visit by celebrity honeymoon couple Zhao Ruo Hong and Zhao Yan was the latest chapter in a tourism romance dance that could yet yield enormous benefits. The bride is the vice-president of China’s first wedding website, The Knot, which has over 32,000 followers, as well as being a famous DJ, while the groom is a popular detective writer with 1.2 million followers, often referred to as ‘China’s Stieg Larsson.’