50 Chinese travel professionals have been learning about Ireland at a training seminar organised by Tourism Ireland and Finnair in the city of Xi’an in north-west China.
The group taking part in the training were travel agents who sell holidays to Ireland, Europe and the US, using Finnair flights. Finnair offers connections to Ireland, including from Xi’AN (from April to October), Nanjing and Chongqing (year-round).
The objective of the training seminar was to engage with Chinese travel professionals who are currently selling Ireland, or who have strong potential to sell the destination, and to encourage them to extend their Ireland offering, or include Ireland for the first time, in their brochures and programmes.
James Kenny, Tourism Ireland’s manager China, said, “We were delighted to partner with Finnair once again this year, to inform and enthuse key travel agents in the city of Xi’an about Ireland. During the training seminar, they heard all about Dublin and Belfast, the Wild Atlantic Way and the Causeway Coastal Route, as well filming locations used in Game of Thrones and Star Wars.
“China is the largest outbound travel market in the world and one that Tourism Ireland is committed to growing over the coming years. In 2017, we welcomed an estimated 70,000 Chinese visitors to the island of Ireland.”
Tourism Ireland and Finnair will run a similar training seminar for travel agents in Nanjing later this year.
© 2018 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
