Fáilte Ireland helps Irish tourism businesses prepare for Chinese visitors
Additional direct flights now operating from China to Dublin are bringing thousands of Chinese visitors to Ireland this year.
Fáilte Ireland is working with Irish tourism businesses across the country to help capitalise on this growth by training them in how to meet the specific needs of the Chinese visitor.
Chinese tourists are different than the traditional holidaymakers and offering the right kind of service is crucial to success within this market.
The Get China Ready Programme is a Fáilte Ireland initiative developed in partnership with Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland with the support of the Centre for Competitiveness, the licensed provider of COTRI (China Outbound Tourism Research Institute) programmes in Ireland.
The specialised programme provides tourism businesses with insights into the Chinese visitor and how to meet their cultural service and culinary needs.
Eight Irish tourism businesses spanning Meath, Dublin, Limerick, Kildare, Galway and Belfast have this week been awarded the Fáilte Ireland China Ready COTRI Certification Award after successfully completing the programme.
They are:
- The Knightsbrook Hotel, Meath;
- Causey Farm, Meath;
- - The Sandymount Hotel and the Temple Bar Hotel;
- Carton House in Kildare;
- The Savoy Hotel Limerick;
- The Galmont Hotel in Galway;
- Hastings Grand Central Hotel in Belfast.
With many challenges on the horizon for the tourism industry, including uncertainty around Brexit, Fáilte Ireland is urging businesses to diversify into new markets, with a focus on China as the biggest outbound tourism market in the world.
First Secretary, Head of Culture and Tourism at the Chinese Embassy, Olga Wang was present at the award presentation, along with representatives from CORTI (China Outbound Tourism Research Institute).
Presenting the Awards, Paul Keeley, Director of Commercial Development at Fáilte Ireland, said:
“China is one of the fastest-growing outbound travel markets in the world with numbers predicted to grow to 200 million by 2020.
New direct flights from Beijing, Hong Kong and more recently Shenzhen to Dublin offer an excellent opportunity for Irish tourism businesses to attract more visitors from the Chinese market.
"The aim of Fáilte Ireland’s Get China Ready Programme is to ensure that the Chinese visitor is warmly welcomed to Ireland and that tourism businesses are prepared and culturally aware of the requirements of our Chinese visitors," he said.
