Chinese visitors to Ireland set to treble in the next five years

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Ireland is expected to triple in the next five years as it overtakes the US as the world’s largest outbound travel market.

Ireland was named the ‘best potential destination’ at the fifth annual Best Tourism Destination awards in China and Tourism Ireland has appointed new representation in the country.

The group is now trying to grow the number of Chinese tourists to the island of Ireland of Ireland from approximately 17,000 in 2012 to 50,000 per year, over the coming five years.

According to the July Soar (Situation & Outlook Analysis Report) from Tourism Ireland, the huge growth in Chinese people travelling abroad will this year see it overtaking the US to become the world’s largest outbound travel market.

The number of Chinese households able to afford overseas travel is set to more than double in the next 10 years to 220 million. China will also become the biggest domestic travel market by 2017, driven largely by rapidly increasing GDP, rising employment levels and higher consumer spending.

According to the latest Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM), 97m Chinese travelled abroad in 2013 — up 14m on 2012.

More than half of the hoteliers surveyed said they have seen an increase in the number of Chinese guests in the previous 12 months while 36% believe that the influx of Chinese tourists is one of the factors that will have the most impact on their business in the next one to two years.

Under the Irish Visa Waiver Programme the nationals of 17 countries, including China, who have a short-term visa to visit Britain can also travel to Ireland without having to apply for a separate Irish visa.

Figures from Tourism Ireland show that since the introduction of the waiver programme, the number of trips to Ireland by residents of these countries has increased by more than 30%, with an additional 6,000 Chinese nationals travelling to Ireland.

According to a Hotels.com study, widespread access to Wifi, the ability to book accommodation through the web or mobile apps and access to social media is of most importance to Chinese visitors.

Kate Hopcraft of Hotels.com said Ireland isalready a hugely popular location for a generation of Chinese people increasingly wanting to travel.

“There are many factors driving the desire to travel among the Chinese people, and whilst Ireland already seems to be an attractive location for these travellers, new initiatives will surely help to showcase further the unique experience a holiday in Ireland brings.”