Ireland has been named a 'best travel destination' in the world, at an awards ceremony in China.

The annual awards are organised by Travel & Leisure magazine, a bilingual travel publication with a circulation of about 550,000.

Ireland was one of nine destinations listed in the “best travel destination” category during 2015 along with Canada, Mauritius, Maldives, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Norway and Denmark.

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: "We are delighted that Ireland has been named a ‘best travel destination’ in China...This award is really good news as we prepare to kick off our busy promotional drive for 2016 in China.

"Tourism Ireland has been working hard to build awareness of the island of Ireland in China, to help secure a greater share of the four million Chinese visitors to Europe each year."

Tourism Ireland has offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

In 2015, Ireland had more than 8.6 million overseas visitors, delivering revenue of about €4.2bn.