The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar TD has welcomed the very successful visit to Ireland by the Vice-President of China, Xi Jinping, which concluded yesterday.

Mr. Xi Jinping is pictured with with Cllr Pat Hayes, Mayor of Clare, at the Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare on the second day of a three day visit to Ireland.

Minister Varadkar said the visit of Vice-President Xi will be of tremendous benefit to Ireland’s tourism industry, which has received unprecedented exposure on Chinese media through his visit to the Cliffs of Moher, and his attendance at Riverdance and Croke Park.

'Last year’s visits of Queen Elizabeth and President Obama demonstrated the value of high-profile visits to Ireland. However, visits from newer markets can be even more significant, as we have to work hard to build the Irish profile. The extensive coverage in the Chinese media of the visit by Vice-President Xi has done tremendous work in raising Ireland’s profile as a tourism destination. His visits to Irish icons like the Cliffs of Moher, Riverdance and Croke Park mean that the Chinese media have seen and experienced something uniquely Irish.

'The Chinese tourism market is one of the fastest-growing outbound markets in the world, and is a priority for Tourism Ireland’s strategy for new markets. Around 10,000 Chinese visitors come to Ireland each year, but this has the potential for considerable growth given China’s strong economy and growing population. There has already a notable increase in interest in Ireland by Chinese tour operators since the Government included China in the visa waiver scheme, which allows visitors to enter Ireland on a UK travel visa.'

Ireland’s programme of promotional activity in China, organised through Tourism Ireland, involves co-operative campaigns with airlines and influential tour operators to ensure that Ireland features prominently in itineraries and travel brochures; hosting familiarisation visits for travel agents and tour operators around the island of Ireland; as well as working closely with travel and lifestyle journalists, to ensure the island of Ireland features extensively in the media. Tourism Ireland has offices representing it in Shanghai and Beijing. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation has indicated that travel expenditure globally by the Chinese was almost US$55 billion in 2010.