On November 8, 2024 (local time), the "Hello, Beijing" cultural and tourism promotion event, hosted by the Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, was successfully held in Dublin, the capital of Ireland. Yang Tong, Chargé d'Affaires,Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Ireland, Sun Jian, Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, and James Kenny, Industry Manager for Emerging Markets at Failte Ireland (Tourism Ireland), attended and delivered speeches. Erin Coleman, Senior Executive Officer of Limerick and City Tourism in Ireland, Irish friend Kevin Carey, Wang Xuezheng, General Manager of Hainan Airlines Holdings Co., Ltd.'s Dublin Office, representatives from the Ireland-China Cultural and Tourism Association (ICCTA), Irish tour operators, and nearly a hundred media representatives participated in the promotion event.
In his speech, Yang Tong, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the Chinese Embassy in Ireland, stated that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Ireland. Over the past 45 years, China and Ireland have sought win-win cooperation based on mutual respect. Especially in recent years, the mutually beneficial cooperation partnership has developed steadily, and both sides have achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation in various fields, including cultural tourism. In January of this year, Premier Li Qiang visited Ireland. To facilitate personnel exchanges between the two countries, China unilaterally announced a visa-free policy for Ireland, which saves a lot of time and expenses for Irish people traveling to China and makes travel easier. Beijing and Dublin are friendly cities. Over the past 13 years, the two sides have maintained friendly relations and carried out constructive cooperation in economy and trade, cultural tourism, education, and urban management, which has greatly benefited not only the two cities but also the development of bilateral relations.
Sun Jian, Deputy Director-General, Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, expressed that he was very honored to hold the "Hello, Beijing" cultural and tourism promotion event in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, to introduce the ancient yet modern and charming Beijing and the convenient policies for entering Beijing to more Irish people. Since March 14, 2024, China has implemented a unilateral visa-free policy for Ireland. With the continuous expansion of China's visa-free "circle of friends" and the continuous optimization of measures to facilitate personnel exchanges, Beijing's inbound tourism market is recovering rapidly. He looks forward to more Irish tourists visiting Beijing for tourism. At the same time, Beijing attaches great importance to developing mutually beneficial cooperation in tourism with the Irish tourism industry and hopes that tourism professionals from both places will cooperate sincerely to jointly promote the sustainable growth of tourism between Beijing and Ireland.
James Kenny, Industry Manager, Emerging Markets, Tourism Ireland, expressed his great honor to attend the "Hello, Beijing" promotion event today. This year marks the 13th anniversary of Dublin and Beijing becoming friendly cities, the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Ireland, and the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. We are delighted to celebrate these anniversaries today with friends from Beijing. Today's promotion event fully showcases Beijing's rich and diverse cultural and tourism resources, and I believe it will play a positive role in promoting in-depth exchanges and cooperation between the tourism industries of Ireland and China. Tourism is a very important industry in Ireland, and with the opening of Hainan Airlines' year-round direct flights, the British-Irish Visa Scheme, and China's visa-free policy for Irish citizens for stays up to 15 days, we are confident about the mutual visits of tourists between the two countries in 2025 and beyond.
As a special guest, Irish friend Kevin Carey shared his connection with China. Kevin Carey is one of the earliest Irish people to have "explored" the new China. As early as 1976, three years before the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Ireland, Mr. Carey visited China for three weeks with the Dublin University football team and later wrote about his trip in Irish newspapers. This spirit of exploration and openness remains an inexhaustible driving force for the development of relations between China and Ireland.
Paula Kilgariff, through her work and life experiences in China, used humorous language to vividly describe Beijing's rich and diverse cultural and tourism resources, including its new attractions, intangible cultural heritage tours, status as a dual Olympic city, cultural and museum exhibitions, and other aspects, earning warm applause from the participating guests.
Wang Xuezheng, General Manager of Hainan Airlines Holdings Co., Ltd.'s Dublin Office, comprehensively introduced Hainan Airlines' Dublin-Beijing route and aviation travel products to Irish tourism professionals at the scene. The opening of the year-round direct flight has promoted tourism, economic and trade exchanges, and humanistic exchanges between Ireland and China.
The promotion event entered the lucky draw session, with a grand prize of a four-day, three-night tour of Beijing provided by Beijing Chunqiu Travel Agency Co., Ltd., and a special grand prize of two round-trip tickets from Dublin to Beijing provided by Hainan Airlines, pushing the event atmosphere to a climax.
A photo exhibition themed "Beijing's Central Axis: A Masterpiece of China's Ideal Capital Order" and interactive activities related to Beijing's intangible cultural heritage and cultural and creative products were popular among Irish guests. More than 40 exquisite pictures, arranged in sequence from the Bell and Drum Towers to Yongding Gate, showcase China's ancient urban planning traditions, witness the development and evolution of Beijing, and embody the beauty of traditional Chinese architecture. Irish guests actively participated in interactive projects related to Beijing's intangible cultural heritage. Cultural and creative products and delicacies from Jitu Fang's "Zodiac Animals," Tangrenfang's "Silk Dolls," the Forbidden City's "Three-Foot Carp," Wuyutai's "Jasmine Tea," and Yuchafang's "Dragon Bringing Fortune" delighted the guests and made them reluctant to leave.
During their stay in Dublin, the delegation also held a discussion with the Ireland-China Cultural and Tourism Association (ICCTA) to conduct in-depth exchanges on the situation of the tourism industries of China and Ireland and explore the development prospects of both sides driven by China's unilateral visa-free policy for Ireland. The ICCTA hopes to strengthen cooperation with Beijing in areas such as commerce, study tours, and training. The Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism bureauinvited Irish tour operators to conduct site inspections in Beijing and participate in the 2025 Beijing Inbound Tourism Development Conference.
Taking this promotion event as an opportunity, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism will carry out more cultural and tourism exchange activities, collaborate with tourism professionals from China and Ireland, leverage the important function of tourism in enhancing understanding, deepening friendship, and promoting mutual recognition of civilizations and cultural exchanges, and make greater contributions to further promoting exchanges and cooperation in the tourism industries of China and Ireland as well as humanistic exchanges between the two countries.
