Mr. Niall Gibbons:

We have done some research that indicates the vast majority of tourists who come from China come for the UK and Ireland package experience. The UK-Ireland visa scheme is absolutely vital in that regard. Post-Brexit, hopefully that will be confirmed to stay in existence. It is going to be really important. We simply would not get the cut through on our own in China. There has not been enough of a history such as we have in the United States of America where there is an awareness of Ireland. Many tourists would come to Ireland on packages of typically seven to nine days that start in London and finish in Dublin.

More than 70,000 people travel between Scotland and Northern Ireland on the Stena Line, which is a whole UK-Ireland experience that is very important. We saw a reduction of some 7% in British visitor numbers last year, largely due to the change in sterling rates when the eurozone became 20% more expensive. In the last five months of this year we have seen an increase of 2.5%, so we have clawed back some of the losses.

The air access situation with the UK has stabilised, which is good. We will have more ferry access next year. Irish Ferries will have the WB Yeats going on the Holyhead-Dublin route and Stena has invested in craft also, which will come on stream in 2020. The largest investment in the history of Irish tourism is taking place currently in Longford with Center Parcs. That will have the capacity to grow numbers of visitors from Great Britain also. This €230 million project has not been talked about a lot but it is a significant one that will be important and useful in attracting British tourists.

We are well aware of Ireland Reaching Out. It was a unique initiative at the time and it received great coverage in publications such as The New York Times, particularly when Ireland was coming out of a recession and was able to look into its soul and reconnect with the diaspora. The Gathering is an example of one of the most significant tourism projects Ireland ever had. On a very low budget it managed to tap into the story of the Irish. We still do a lot of work with diaspora and media abroad. We connect with diaspora groups every time we go abroad. The GAA also has an important role to play in keeping us connected. With technology the world has become a much smaller place now. We are all a click away from our relatives abroad. This is an aspect to which Tourism Ireland pays a lot of attention.

On the big initiatives, we are aware that "Oprah" went to Australia. We are always watching each other and robbing each other's big ideas. Our own big one is St. Patrick's Day, which is Global Greening. This started off in lighting up the Sydney Opera House on what was the 200th anniversary of the first reception for Irish ex-pats in 1810 by Governor Lachlan Macquarie.