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.’

The couple toured the country all the while tweeting and blogging to their huge fan base back home.

“As soon as I got engaged, I thought of Ireland — a great destination for honeymoon,” Zhao told her followers. “A great landscape and cosy countryside life, and it is not crowded.” For her new husband, “visiting the land of James Joyce, Oscar Wilde and Bernard Shaw made him so happy,” she added.

And when Zhao Yan accidentally left his mobile phone on a public bus, only to have it returned to his hotel by an unknown stranger hours later, she said: “Sometimes it’s simple to fall in love with a place because it has such warm people.”

The traditional warmth of the Irish people hits a very positive note with Chinese visitors, says Fiona O’Sullivan of Custom Ireland, which organises tailor-made travel itineraries. “Despite the language difficulties, Chinese visitors clearly love interacting with Irish people on every level. They feel a genuine connection and are very happy and comfortable with Irish people. The welcome and the scenery are, without a doubt, amongst the top things they loved on their visit.”

An estimated 10,000 Chinese visitors currently come to Ireland each year — a market Tourism Ireland believes has the potential to grow much larger, given China’s strong economy, which includes over 500,000 high net worth individuals. Chinese visitors travelling to the UK are now able to include Ireland on their itinerary through a more efficient visa waiver scheme introduced by the Government last year, cutting out the bureaucracy and cost that previously existed. A number of leading Chinese tour operators have now included Ireland programmes in their brochures for the first time ever, as a result of the waiver scheme.

“Spend by Chinese travellers has risen four-fold in the past decade, making them the fourth-biggest spending tourists in the world,” says Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation has indicated that travel expenditure by the Chinese was almost €50 billion in 2010.

“With two million Chinese people visiting Europe each year, this is a significant emerging market and an important one for us to tap into,” Gibbons says. The visit last year of Chinese president Xi Jinping generated an additional awareness of Ireland through its news coverage in China, and the opening of regular scheduled services by Emirates and Etihad airlines through Dubai and Abu Dhabi has also helped foster deeper links.

The Asia-Pacific region is expected to be one of the fastest-growing regions for outbound travel over the next ten years, and Tourism Ireland has initiated co-operative campaigns with airlines and tour operators to ensure Ireland features prominently in their itineraries.

“Natural, scenic beauty, which, thankfully, we have in abundance, is an important consideration for the Chinese when planning a holiday destination,” adds Gibbons.

While Chinese tourists have traditionally travelled as part of organised tour groups, independent travel by the country’s burgeoning wealthy is now considered a strong personal statement and regarded as very fashionable. Seventy-two per cent of wealthy Chinese tourists are now opting for individual, high end travel experiences — a demographic Tourism Ireland are targeting by highlighting the new short-stay visa. On the ground, Irish hotels are very aware of the potential of this vast market and are already taking steps to capitalise on its opportunities. “The number of outbound visitors from China in 2010 was over 57 million, so converting just a handful of that would be enormous,” says Paula Cogan, director of sales and marketing at Cork’s River Lee Hotel, which saw a 150 per cent increase in Chinese visitors in 2011. Cork City is twinned with Shanghai, and UCC’s Institute of Chinese Studies has already ensured a steady stream of students to the city.

Along with golf, historic sites and castles, Chinese visitors are keen shoppers — with the emphasis on brand name goods. “They love to shop, specifically for luxury goods,” says Cogan. “In many countries, like Switzerland, hotels and retailers work together, and some shops will subsidise accommodation costs just to get Chinese visitors to spend on luxury goods.”

Cogan has travelled to China on a number of marketing trips and notes a growing awareness of Ireland over the past three years.

“Travel agents understand Ireland as a high value destination offering golf, good food and quality hotels, and are now showcasing this to the new wealthy Chinese. Riverdance is huge in China and this has really helped to showcase Ireland,” she adds.

Irish hotels need to be aware of cultural differences, cautions Fiona O’Sullivan of Custom Ireland.

“While they are very impressed by the freshness of our food, Irish hoteliers need to have a Chinese food option as part of their menus — but it should be prepared in the proper Chinese way,” she says. Cost is a factor, but Chinese visitors are happy to pay for a quality experience.

“They find Ireland to be about on par with France and Italy as regards price and it would be considered an expensive destination,” she says. “Many tour operators would look at Ireland as a location for business tourism, with golf and castles as add-on activities. The market would definitely be high-end professionals, with four and five-star hotels.”

While China is a vast market with massive potential, it requires a careful and well-directed promotional approach, she believes:

“It is a big challenge culturally to market Ireland in China, as opposed to North America, for instance, where the traveller will know a neighbour or colleague who’s already been there. For Chinese people, Ireland is a new destination.”

THE SIZE OF THE PRIZE

China’s population of 1.3 billion is still growing, at 0.5% per annum.

Approximately 57 million Chinese people travel outside of China each year — the majority to nearby destinations like Hong Kong and Macau.

Two million Chinese people visit Europe each year, including 150,000 to the UK. This figure is expected to reach 300,000 by 2020. Tourism Ireland estimates that approximately 10,000 Chinese visitors come to Ireland each year at present. The first half of 2011 saw a record high in outbound travel from China, up 20% on 2010.