Visit Belfast, the city’s dedicated destination marketing and management organisation (DMMO), has officially marked the 25th
anniversary since its foundation, celebrating a quarter of a century of
Belfast’s development as an international tourist destination.
Once lumped with Beirut, Baghdad and Bosnia as one of
the four ‘B’s international travellers should avoid by global travel bible
Lonely Planet, Belfast has enjoyed record tourism growth
following a major shift in global perceptions and billions of pounds of
investment.
Embarking on a new tourism journey of growth, Visit
Belfast was first established by Belfast City Council as the Belfast Visitor &
Convention Bureau (BVCB) in 1999.
At the time, Belfast had just 600 hotel bedrooms,
400,000 staying visitors, £80 million spent in the local economy and the first
cruise ship arrival, contributing around 17 per cent to Northern Ireland’s
tourism economy.
By 2023, Belfast had around 5,000 hotel bedrooms, 1.7
million overnight visitors, a record 159 cruise ships and 100 conference
business events. Tourism in Belfast contributed £539m to the local economy,
almost 45 per cent of Northern Ireland’s total tourism impact.
Congratulating Visit Belfast on its achievements over
25 years, Belfast Lord Mayor, councillor Micky Murray, said: “Tourism powers growth and investment, enhances our
outlook and drives our local economy. As a small, unique and compact city
that’s famed for the warmth of our welcome, Belfast packs a punch – and its
success can firmly be attributed to the hard work, partnership working and
sheer determination of Visit Belfast’s colleagues, members, partners and
stakeholders who work so closely together to seize opportunities while also
navigating challenges.”
Few countries worldwide have pulled off such an
unprecedented tourism transformation as Belfast became one of the world’s
leading, most celebrated and award-winning city destinations which now attracts
millions of leisure, business and cruise visitors every year.
“In a quarter of a century, Belfast’s international
reputation has been transformed and thanks to the foresight of Belfast City
Council in establishing a dedicated tourism authority for the city and region,
we are proud that we can compete successfully in an international marketplace
for visitors and to global industry recognition that underline the city’s
reputation as a great place in which to visit, live, study and invest. Congratulations
to Visit Belfast – the heart of Team Belfast – for its stellar contribution to
the city’s success over 25 years,” the Lord Mayor added.
John McGrillen, chief executive, Tourism Northern
Ireland, said: “Congratulations to Visit Belfast and thank you for
your support in attracting visitors to the Belfast region and beyond over the
past 25 years. Promoting Belfast as an authentic and vibrant city
destination has been, and will continue to be, essential to the future growth
of tourism across the region.”
In its new strategy for the Belfast City Region, New
Horizons, Visit Belfast plans to accelerate this growth further and aims to
generate £424m for the city economy as part of its tourism growth blueprint for
2024-2027.
Visit Belfast chair, Marie-Therese McGivern, said: “Visit Belfast continues to promote Belfast as an
exciting city break, conference, cruise and day trip destination. Our activity
is focused on driving visitor demand and delivering a mix of customers balanced
throughout the week and throughout the year.
“Our ambitious strategy for the three years ahead, New
Horizons, will strengthen and elevate the appeal of the city's vibrant
neighbourhoods to drive new growth and fresh exploration while we will continue
to lead and champion sustainability across the industry, driving impact
socially and economically.”
Marking the milestone, Visit Belfast chief executive
Gerry Lennon said: “Since our foundation in 1999, we’ve seen the city
continue to flourish with new attractions, new experiences, new hotels and an
ever-increasing list of reasons to visit.
“Visit Belfast continues to focus on promoting the city
as a compelling and exciting business, leisure and cruise destination and
remains focused on driving sustainable growth and visitor spend and we remain
confident in our ability to deliver through our strategic growth plans and with
our partners’ support.”
