A new drive to encourage visitors from China has been announced by tourism groups in the Cork region.
A special Cork tourism industry group was established today to drive visitor numbers from one of the fastest growing markets in the world.
On the second day of the Asia Matters Cork Summit, Martin Murray, the organisation’s Executive Director, announced that the Cork tourism industry group had been established following the opening day of the summit.
Mr Murray said: “We had an excellent presentation from Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, plus input from experts in the tourism field at home and in China. This year Ireland will attract 50,000 Chinese visitors but there is no reason why these numbers can’t grow significantly in the future.”
“I am delighted to announce this morning that following yesterday’s event, a special Cork tourism industry group is being established to engage with Chinese inbound tour operations based in London,” Mr Murray said.
China currently has an expanding middle class of approximately 700 million people. China’s outbound travel market now represents 120 million people, spending $165 billion annually, Mr Murray said.
The summit also focused on foreign direct investment. China’s current five year plan to 2020 has a target of $750 billion of Chinese outbound FDI. The summit focus was on the Strategic Proposition of Regions and Cities in the Global Business Value Chain and how FDI can be used to develop location competitiveness, attracting and retaining global talent and what are the requirements of global investors for future success.
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David Martin, Director, China Britain Business Council, addressing the Summit.
Dearbhail McDonald, Group Business Editor, INM, welcoming Jijay Shen, Country Head, Huawei Ireland, with Martin Murray, Asia Matters.
H.E. Anizan Siti Hajjar Adnin, Ambassador of Malaysia to Ireland.
- Asia Matters is Ireland’s only Think Tank on Asia. The Cork Summit was held in partnership with Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Cork Institute of Technology and Cork Chamber of Commerce.