Minister Brendan Howlin, TD is travelling to China as part of the Government’s St. Patrick’s Day Promote Ireland Programme. Since taking office, the Government has concentrated on fostering economic growth and job creation at home. The St. Patrick’s Day Promote Ireland Programme is key to this effort, promoting, as it does trade, tourism, inward-investment and culture across the Globe and among the Irish abroad.
The Minister’s varied programme of over 25 separate engagements includes meetings with senior Government Ministers and trade leaders in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing.
On Wednesday 12 March, when the Minister will attend a Tourism Ireland promotion event in the Jinjiang Tourism Showcase Space which will build on Ireland’s recent success at the fifth annual Ctrip ‘Best Tourism Destination’ awards ceremony. Ireland was named “Best Potential Destination” for 2014 at the event beating off strong competition in the same category from Turkey, Sweden, South Africa, Dubai, Kenya and Queensland.
Ctrip is China’s largest online travel agency and one of the best-known tourism brands in the country, offering travel services to some 90+ million members. The award was presented to Tourism Ireland at a ceremony in Shanghai, attended by about 300 travel industry leaders from around China, including tour operators, travel agents, airlines and travel media.
Tourism and Culture are not the only priority sectors for Ireland in China. Of note too are the Agriculture, Education, Financial Services and Science & Technology sectors. Thus, the Minister’s Programme includes events designed to encourage business opportunities in these areas.
Mindful of the importance of promoting inward investment, Minister Howlin will meet the Letterkenny Institute of Technology “Chinese and Business” Internship Programme participants and client companies, speak at the “Ireland – China’s technology gateway to Europe” Networking Dinner and engage with the Irish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, among other events throughout the visit.
During the period, the Minister will also participate in a series of media engagements, aimed at actively promoting the story of Ireland’s recovery.
Referring to the programme, the Minister said:
“The raised profile the St. Patrick’s Day period affords to Ireland offers a unique opportunity to further boost trade, tourism and inward-investment thereby creating more jobs at home. I look forward to working with the diplomatic staff in China and the State agencies operating there – Enterprise Ireland, the IDA, Tourism Ireland and Bord Bia – to make the most of this crucial period for the Irish economy by communicating that Ireland’s exit from the bailout and return to economic stability makes this country the right place in which to do business. ”