By Business & Finance 
Castlemartyr Resort has been accredited as a China Ready business in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland’s China Ready Programme, the first hotel in Cork to receive the accreditation.
The Fáilte Ireland China Ready Programme is designed to make as many Irish hospitality businesses as possible ‘China ready’, to capitalise on what has become the biggest outbound tourism source market in the world – 116 million Chinese travelled worldwide in 2016 and spent $160 billion. Outbound tourism is no longer restricted by the Chinese government and tourism service providers all over the world are starting to focus on the Chinese market.
A detailed review in 2016 identified countries in the new and developing markets with the best capability to deliver tourists to Ireland, clearly identifying China as a key priority. Ireland has everything the Chinese visitor is looking for in a holiday – cities, shopping, history and sightseeing – and Castlemartyr Resort is perfectly poised to meet that tourism need.
China ready accreditation process
Very different to Ireland’s traditional recreational holiday-makers from Europe and North America, there are many different kinds of Chinese travellers with various levels of experience and expectations, so understanding Chinese visitors, responding to their needs and offering the right kind of services is crucial to success in this market.
Through a combination of audits, workshops, cultural awareness training, culinary focus and routes to market training, the Fáilte Ireland China Ready Programme helps hospitality businesses identify their strengths and weaknesses for the Chinese market, learn where improvements can be made and identify upskilling requirements to ensure every property meets market standards. The Fáilte Ireland China Ready Programme also assists in identifying routes to market through strategies that will make the Chinese market more accessible to every proposition.
Castlemartyr Resort has now completed the Fáilte Ireland China Ready Programme and has been officially accredited China Ready, after an in-depth series of days spent in training by the Resort’s management, front-facing staff, sales & marketing and culinary teams.
“Approximately 17,000 Chinese visitors came to the island of Ireland in 2012 and this increased to over 55,000 in 2016,” says General Manager Brendan Comerford of Castlemartyr Resort. “The expectation is that increased air access will bring an additional 40,000 Chinese visitors to Ireland during 2018 and we are perfectly positioned to capitalise on that significant increase here at Castlemartyr Resort. With our strong connection with China through our owners already we are delighted to be the first hotel in Cork to receive the accreditation and look forward to welcoming more visitors this year and in the years to come.”
