From 7 to 9 May 2026, Zhang Li, Director of the China National Tourist Office (CNTO) London, and Pan Hang, Assistant to the Director, led a delegation to Northern Ireland for a visit and exchange.

They engaged in in-depth discussions with the Belfast City Council, Tourism Northern Ireland, Visit Belfast, as well as key local tourism enterprises and cultural institutions. Multiple consensuses were reached on core topics including two-way tourism promotion, mutual tourist exchanges, and service optimisation, injecting strong momentum into deepening pragmatic cultural and tourism cooperation among China, the UK, and Northern Ireland.

Local Government in Northern Ireland Actively Responds, Fully Strategising for the Chinese Cultural and Tourism Market

On 8 May, Director Zhang Li and his delegation visited the Belfast City Council and Tourism Northern Ireland, commencing the core discussions of this visit. At the Belfast City Council, they held cordial talks with Mayor Tracy Kelly, Head of International Relations Laura Leonard, and other officials, with Consul General Li Nan of the Chinese Consulate General in Belfast also in attendance.

Mayor Tracy Kelly stated that China is a vital source market for Belfast and Northern Ireland, expressing hope to deepen cooperation with China, continuously optimise the reception experience for Chinese tourists, and attract more Chinese people to experience the unique charm of Northern Ireland.

A representative from Visit Belfast introduced that the Chinese market is a key direction for their strategic layout, having recently conducted a series of tourism promotional campaigns across five cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The pre-pandemic “China Ready Programme” (featuring Mandarin commentary, Chinese signage, and exclusive services tailored to Chinese tourists’ habits) is steadily restarting.

In the future, they will focus on the Chinese Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism and the high-end luxury tourism markets, and have already established a dedicated team responsible for Chinese market expansion. In response, Director Zhang Li proposed that, to demonstrate China’s sincerity in strengthening exchange and cooperation with Northern Ireland in the tourism sector, Northern Ireland could utilise the premium platform of the China Pavilion at this year’s World Travel Market (WTM) London to deliver a targeted presentation of local specialty tourism resources to representatives from dozens of travel agencies across more than ten Chinese provinces and municipalities. The relevant Northern Ireland parties highly appreciated this proposal and clearly expressed a pressing desire to deepen cooperation.

At Tourism Northern Ireland, the delegation engaged in in-depth exchanges with Chief Executive Laura McCorry and Chinese Market Representative Gary. It was introduced that Northern Ireland’s overseas tourism promotion relies on Tourism Ireland’s 14 global offices, and currently, representative offices have been established in Beijing and Shanghai.

With the continuous increase in capacity of direct flights from Dublin to Beijing and Shanghai—among which the Beijing route has achieved a daily frequency this summer—it has greatly facilitated Chinese tourists visiting Northern Ireland. Data shows that among international tourists visiting Ireland, approximately 55% will also visit Northern Ireland, with the Titanic Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway being its core tourism resources.

Both sides unanimously agreed to rely on existing cooperation platforms to strengthen the joint promotion of cultural and tourism resources and further broaden the scope for cooperation.

Northern Ireland Tourism Industry Actively Prepares, Leveraging Visa-Free Policy to Expand Business to China

During the visit, Director Zhang Li and his delegation also visited Travel Solutions, the largest tour operator in Northern Ireland, having an in-depth exchange with Managing Director Peter. Peter introduced that since joining a familiarisation trip organised by CNTO London to Haikou for the China International Travel Mart (CITM) last December, the travel agency has officially launched its Chinese tourism product operations.

This year, they have successfully organised two tour groups to China, with generally positive feedback from tourists. He stated that China’s visa-free policy for the UK and Ireland has greatly facilitated residents of Northern Ireland travelling to China, bringing a profound and positive impact on the development of the agency’s relevant business. Travel Solutions expressed hopes of hosting Chinese tourism promotional events in Northern Ireland in the future to further enhance the local market’s understanding of China’s cultural and tourism resources and encourage more Northern Irish people to travel to China.

Core Cultural and Tourism Attractions Proactively Engage, Anticipating Two-Way Tourist Exchanges

Director Zhang Li and his delegation also successively visited Northern Ireland’s core cultural and tourism attractions—Titanic Belfast and the Game of Thrones Studio Tour—to explore cooperation pathways with relevant executives. At Titanic Belfast, the delegation communicated with Chief Executive Judith Owens.

It is reported that the museum recently welcomed its 10 millionth visitor and stands as one of the most influential attractions in Northern Ireland, with 64% of international tourists to Northern Ireland paying a visit. Judith Owens stated that she had previously assisted in hosting cultural exchange events such as Chinese photography exhibitions, and hopes to further promote two-way tourist exchanges in the future, attracting more Chinese tourists to visit.

At the Game of Thrones Studio Tour, Director Zhang Li’s delegation held talks with Marketing Director Mark Woolner. Mark Woolner indicated that Chinese tourists are a significant source group for the attraction and expressed a desire to strengthen cooperation and joint promotion with China.

This visit was pragmatic, highly efficient, and fruitful, effectively enhancing mutual understanding and trust between CNTO London, local government bodies in Northern Ireland, tourism authorities, and the industry.

The two sides reached multiple consensuses and cooperation intentions across various areas, including tourism promotion, utilisation of the visa-free policy, flight connectivity, and industry cooperation.

Moving forward, CNTO London will continue to play its role as a bridge and link, pushing for deeper and more solid Sino-British two-way tourism exchanges, and helping cultural and tourism cooperation between the two countries reach new heights.