Tourism Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board have launched marketing plans and a growth strategy for 2008 and beyond, in Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast.
The launch, attended by tourism industry leaders, follows increased visitor numbers to Northern Ireland in 2007, from overseas, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
Tourism Ireland also unveiled preliminary outcomes of the review of the island of Ireland brand, which has identified a desire among potential holidaymakers to experience a greater diversity of culture and things to do and see on the island;
Tourism Ireland believes this presents fresh opportunities for Northern Ireland.
Preliminary results for 2007 suggest an increase of +4% in total visits to Northern Ireland, with good growth in particular from Mainland Europe, North America and the Republic of Ireland. Most encouraging has been the significant return to growth in holiday visitors from Great Britain, of the order of +26%, although there has been some softening in the total number of visitors from GB. There has also been double digit growth in holidaymakers from Mainland Europe and North America. This will build on the momentum of the last six years which has seen Northern Ireland earn more than £1.8b from 11 million staying visitors from Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and overseas.
The key speaker at the launch, Stephen Quinn, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, said: “In the draft Programme for Government, the Northern Ireland Executive has set challenging but achievable targets for tourism. These reflect recent upward trends, particularly from mainland Europe, North America and Great Britain.
“Through close co-operation, Tourism Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board can continue to maximise marketing opportunities to achieve Northern Ireland’s tourism potential.”
Welcoming the impressive visitor and holidaymaker performance, Paul O’Toole, Chief Executive Tourism Ireland, said Tourism Ireland aims to continue to grow tourism to the island of Ireland at a higher rate of growth than international tourism.
“Specifically, we aim to grow holidaymaker traffic to Northern Ireland at a faster rate than to the rest of the island. By 2010, we anticipate over 2m overseas visitors a year to Northern Ireland, generating £458m in revenue. In fact, over the next three years, Tourism Ireland anticipates that Northern Ireland will secure up to £1.28b in earnings from overseas tourism. That level of performance will surpass both World and European levels”.
Tourism Ireland recently completed a comprehensive review of the island of Ireland brand with key partner organisations, including the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. The review indicated that the island of Ireland brand remains very motivating and attractive to visitors and that the holiday experience here generally exceeds their expectations. However, the review also confirmed that the brand will need to differentiate itself even more strongly in order to deliver the required growth in overseas revenue and visitor numbers. To reflect that heightened differentiating factor, Tourism Ireland has evolved the brand model to place more focus on unique Character and Characters of the island of Ireland which has been endorsed as the new expression for the brand.
Alan Clarke, NITB Chief Executive said:
“While the performance of the European and North American markets is particularly encouraging, now is the time to take giant steps in tourism if Northern Ireland is to capture a much greater share of overseas holiday visitors to the island, currently at around 10%, and build on the closer to home markets of Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. The draft Programme for Government recognises tourism’s future role in the Northern Ireland economy and has set ambitious targets for tourism that require substantial growth, from all markets, and on visitor spend.
“A real ‘step change’ will require us to develop a culture of enterprise in tourism and invest further in key infrastructure. Over the next five years NITB will focus additional funds on improving information and visitor experience, supporting the industry to improve quality and standards, and working with partners to develop accommodation capacity, improve competitiveness and enhance skills.
“There is also further work to be done on overcoming still engrained perceptions about Northern Ireland among potential visitors arriving from and via the Republic of Ireland and secure ‘stand out’ for Northern Ireland’s unique culture and heritage. Together with our public and private sector partners, we will also seek to complete the five ‘Signature’ destinations and invest in product development priorities”.
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Further information:
Weber Shandwick T. 028 9034 7300
Conall McDevitt M. 077 7088 6933
Sonya Cassidy M. 077 7088 6949