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Tour the Emerald Isle

Travel to Ireland by Chinese tourists will be encouraged in a new promotion supported by the Irish Government.

A new Tourism Ireland representative office opened in Beijing on January 19 with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern in attendance. Ahern was in China on a state visit.

Ireland was granted "approved-destination status" as a result of an agreement concluded between Irish and Chinese governments at the beginning of 2004.

There were 16 million "outbound" tourists in China in 2002. According to the World Tourism Organisation, China will become one of the top-three outbound tourism markets in the world within the next 20 years. Chinese economic and personal income growth has whetted an appetite for foreign travel by more affluent Chinese. Statistics indicated the average Chinese traveller to Europe spends about US$5,700 per visit.

Tourism is a major sector in Ireland's economy. It generates more than 4.4 percent of the country's total gross national product and provides one of every 12 jobs. Each year, Ireland attracts more than six million foreign visitors. Dublin, the capital of the Emerald Isle, is the fourth most popular city in Western Europe for short holidays, and Cork, Ireland's second-largest city, is this year's European City of Culture.

Ireland is famed for outdoor pursuits such as fishing, horse-riding, walking, sailing and, of course, golf (the country has more than 400 quality golf courses).