VisitBritain and Tourism Ireland have announced a new agreement to boost tourist numbers from long-haul and emerging markets such as China and India.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in London by Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons and VisitBritain CEO Sandie Dawe at a business event to mark last week’s state visit of Irish President Michael D Higgins.

Under the deal, VisitBritain and Tourism Ireland will work more closely together – particularly in long-haul markets outside of Europe and North America – to promote Ireland and Great Britain as destinations to be visited as part of a single holiday.

The aims of the MoU are to combine activities and pool resources in markets where appropriate, as well as to boost revenue and visitor numbers to both nations from long-haul markets.

“We have ambitious targets to encourage record numbers of visits to Britain from long-haul, high-spending markets such as China and India - as do our colleagues at Tourism Ireland,” said Dawe.

“This new partnership aims to capitalise on opportunities by aligning our work and marketing activities in these countries where appropriate.”

In practical terms, the MoU will lead to joint calendar planning in terms of key meetings and events, sharing of market data and operations at industry events, and collaboration on joint press events and sales missions.