Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am quite prepared to have a conversation with Tourism Ireland on the commitment to which the Deputy referred. I believe the number of Chinese tourists coming here per annum is nearly 100,000. While €1 million may seem a small amount, one must remember that China is a very long way away. It has an enormous population but I acknowledge that if we were to get a very small number of its overseas tourists, it would be a very large number for us. I will not interfere with Tourism Ireland's judgments on how much of its funding allocation from last year it should spend on the Chinese market. That is Tourism Ireland's job. I will, however, convey the Deputy's comments to Tourism Ireland and his view that the Chinese market may be underexplored at this stage. We have a staff of 12 in the tourism agencies in China who are obviously realising the potential that exists.

Tourism Ireland estimates that 100,000 Chinese tourists visited the island of Ireland in 2018. While visitor numbers from China to Ireland are small when compared with established tourism markets, it should be remembered that Chinese visitors spend more than the average tourist and typically stay longer than visitors from markets closer to home.

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