Can China help boost the Cornish tourism industry?

Cornwall gets more than four million visitors a year but these two dozen travel agents from China could be some of the most influential ever. The county is hoping they will spread the message and bring thousands of fellow Chinese visitors in their wake.

If only a tiny proportion of their 1.4 billion population followed them here, it would have an enormous impact.

The travel agents say most visitors from their country can speak English, but as the numbers from China increase, more effort is needed to cater for their needs.

A few miles down the road, at Lakeview, there's a multi million pound Anglo-Chinese investment in a new hotel and guest lodges which will be entirely bi-lingual, aimed obviously at getting more Chinese visitors to Cornwall.

Other deals with China are being done almost daily. Including the multi-billion pound deal at Hinkley Point and there's investment in the other direction. The electronics company 'Graphic' has 180 staff in Crediton doing design and prototyping work, and 450 staff in China at its high volume production plant.

Clearly with China's growing financial might and population, it's something that the West Country cannot ignore.