Tourism Ireland targets visitor growth, with new global Trip.com Group agreement

Taoiseach Micheál Martin attends signing of new MoU between Tourism Ireland and Trip.com Group in Shanghai.

Tourism Ireland has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with global online travel service provider Trip.com Group, to grow the island of Ireland’s share of international visitors. The new MoU was signed today (7th January) during a visit to China by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, at the global headquarters of Trip.com Group in Shanghai, where the delegation toured the new Trip.com Group Exploration Centre.

Trip.com Group is one of the world’s leading online travel platforms, operating brands such as Trip.com and Ctrip and serving users in 50 countries and regions. Trip.com Group is a key strategic partner for Tourism Ireland – offering valuable reach to global and high-value travellers through its worldwide platforms and strong capabilities in content, data insights and AI-driven marketing.

During this week’s visit to China, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has also met with Hainan Airlines, which operates direct flights from Beijing to Dublin. Tomorrow (8th January), he will attend a Tourism Ireland business luncheon event in Shanghai, where he will address key Chinese travel professionals and media.

Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Taoiseach Micheál Martin to the signing of our new MoU with Trip.com Group. Trip.com Group is one of the largest online travel agents in the world and our new partnership will offer us valuable reach to long-haul and high-value visitors. We are delighted to collaborate with Trip.com Group as a leading travel partner in China and around the world. At Tourism Ireland, we are proud to play our role in the Government’s Action Plan on Market Diversification, building partnerships and inspiring visitor demand from valued markets, for the year ahead and for the long term. The Taoiseach will also attend our business luncheon event in Shanghai, where he will meet some of our key travel trade and media partners on the ground here, who we work closely with to grow connections and business to the island of Ireland.”