Tourism Trade

ICCTA at the ITB China Sino-EU Tourism Dialogue

ICCTA president Jing Farrelly spoke at the Sino-EU Tourism Dialogue at ITB China in Shanghai on 26 May 2026, where intangible cultural heritage was the thread running through a discussion on how cultural experience can drive deeper tourism product design.

Shanghai26 May 2026Sino-EU Tourism Dialogue / intangible cultural heritage as a product-design driver

The Sino-EU Tourism Dialogue at ITB China brought together representatives from Chinese and European tourism, destination organisations, international tourism bodies and the cultural exchange sector to discuss how cultural experience can support deeper innovation in European tourism products. The session was co-hosted by ITB China and the International Exchange and Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The discussion focused on a clear shift in visitor behaviour: away from landmark-based sightseeing and towards travel built on participation, emotional connection and local experience. The central question was how abstract cultural values, living traditions and ways of life can be turned into products that visitors can understand, take part in and genuinely connect with.

Intangible cultural heritage ran through the session as a practical product-design resource rather than a museum topic. Speakers shared cases from Henan, Datong and Zhangjiajie on translating local heritage into visitor experiences, and on how European markets can combine traditional culture and local life with demand for more immersive travel. Jing Farrelly contributed the Ireland-China perspective.

Joined the Sino-EU Tourism Dialogue at ITB China as the only speaker presenting both the China-to-Ireland and Europe-to-China directions.
Used falconry and other living heritage as examples of shared cultural language that can anchor cross-market product design.
Set out ICCTA's practice in turning lesser-known Irish heritage elements into tradeable product modules for the China market.
Highlighted the trilingual ICH resource ICCTA is building for Ireland's national inventory, aimed at practitioners, researchers and tourism professionals.

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Speakers at the Sino-EU Tourism Dialogue, ITB China 2026 in Shanghai

Key Themes

From seeing culture to understanding culture

The argument ICCTA brought to the forum was that heritage-led tourism works best when visitors move from watching culture to taking part in it.

Falconry as a shared UNESCO listing

Jing Farrelly used falconry to illustrate how some heritage items belong to several countries at once. Falconry is inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as a multinational nomination, first inscribed in 2010 with eleven countries and extended most recently in 2021, when Ireland joined. It is the only element shared by Ireland and China on that List.

She pointed out that the relationship between a falconer and a bird is one of partnership rather than ownership, and that this logic travels across cultures. The point matters for product design: a shared reference gives two markets a common starting point, rather than asking a visitor to learn two unrelated histories.

A cross-cultural reading practice

Jing Farrelly also referred to a moment from the 2025 Beijing International Intangible Cultural Heritage Week, where Irish harping and uilleann piping performed Danny Boy together with a Chinese erhu. The performance needed no translation to land with the audience.

For ICCTA, this is a working method rather than a one-off: read the two heritage traditions against each other, find where they resonate, and use that resonance as the bridge. The 43 Chinese-language ICH entries now published on this site were built the same way, each presented in English, Irish and Chinese with editorial context alongside the official text.

Turning heritage into tradeable product modules

As the only speaker at the forum able to present both directions of the Ireland-China relationship, Jing Farrelly shared ICCTA's practical experience: converting small-scale Irish heritage elements into modules that buyers and partners can actually procure, and helping Chinese destinations tell stories that land with European audiences.

The association's work extends across heritage international communication, destination promotion, themed study visits, FAM trips, delegation hosting, industry exchange and bilingual content development. The aim is to move from a single event or forum discussion towards longer-term cooperation and identifiable projects.

ITB China 2026

Forum and heritage reference

The forum setting in Shanghai, alongside the 2025 Beijing heritage performance referenced in the discussion.

Sino-EU Tourism Dialogue at ITB China 2026

Irish harping and Chinese erhu performing Danny Boy, Beijing 2025