9th January 2011: Good news set to flow from Northern Ireland throughout 2012

Friday’s announcement that Royal Portrush will host this year’s Irish Open, a major coup for the north coast and the whole of Northern Ireland, is the best start the tourism industry could have hoped for.

With plans already in place for a series of high profile events to move the tourism industry to the heart of economic development here, providing positive leadership and a steady flow of ‘good news’ for Northern Ireland, the staging of the Irish Open at the end of June is the icing on the cake.

Prior to Friday’s announcement, the ni2012 Our Time Our Place programme featuring seven world-class events was projected to draw an additional 150,000 visitors to Northern Ireland, create over 600 new jobs and provide a much needed £24 million additional revenue for the economy in 2012, with projections for even greater growth in the years ahead.

We are now more confident than ever that these figures will be exceeded.

In addition to the Irish Open, events include the Titanic Festival and the opening of the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction, the Peace One Day Concert and Clipper race in Londonderry, the opening of the new Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre and a Land of Giants festival which will be the largest outdoor arts event ever seen in Northern Ireland involving a cast and crew of over 500 people.

This programme will provide the positive ‘lift’ and excitement that this community needs in such challenging economic times and it will advance our position as a ‘must see’ global destination.

The programme of world-class events had been shaped by the industry to help drive tourism and the economy forward faster.

Our colleagues in Tourism Ireland are advancing plans in Great Britain and overseas, while we are taking the message to those living in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. We wish to build on the extremely positive reviews of Northern Ireland that have appeared in major international publications nominating us as a ‘must see’ destination.

Our hope is that people throughout Northern Ireland will be inspired by what we have already announced to reach out to family and friends abroad and encourage them to come here or come home in 2012 to experience the very many exciting events and attractions that we now offer visitors.

What these events will do is to carry forward the achievements of 2010 when 1.8 million tourists came here and generated £336 million for the local economy that helped to sustain 40,000 jobs.

Tourism is perhaps the only industry currently in growth mode and has the potential to become an engine that will pull other sectors forward faster and potentially ripple through every county in Northern Ireland.

By 2020 visitor numbers could reach 4.5 million and tourism overall will contribute around £1 billion to the economy and employ 50,000 people throughout Northern Ireland.

Tourism, I believe, is an industry that really has the potential to exert a very positive impact on virtually every part of Northern Ireland, in every constituency and at every skill level. It’s also a labour intensive industry that will bring greater employment opportunities to every region, more appealing facilities to our cities and towns and a new source of pride for people here.

The benefits of the uplift in tourism in recent years are already apparent. We’ve seen substantial public investment in infrastructural projects and important private sector-led developments including hotels, restaurants and other services.

“Over 200 publicly funded projects have leveraged new capital investment of £300 million. As a result, Northern Ireland now has some world-class attractions for visitors in many regions.”

A significant growth in tourism will stimulate entrepreneurship and make a major contribution to efforts by the Northern Ireland Executive, which aims to promote 25,000 new jobs over the next four years.

What’s also worth bearing in mind is that 2012 will be followed by a series of events of international significance already lined up at least to 2015. Londonderry will be showcased next year when it is the UK City of Culture. The World Police and Fire Games will also be held in Northern Ireland in 2013. The spectacular Tall Ships are coming back in 2015.

The return of the Irish Open following a sixty year wait, and the activities that we’ve developed for the ni2012 Our Time Our Place programme, along with others in the pipeline in Londonderry and other areas, I believe, will lead to a Titanic turnaround for tourism here and for the wider Northern Ireland economy, assisting the growth of the private sector, promoting employment and creating greater wealth for this community,” he added.

Source - BusinessFirstOnline.co.uk