Visit Belfast recapped a busy year for tourism at its
Annual General Meeting, held today in the Europa Hotel.
Pictured with Belfast’s Deputy Lord Mayor, Guy Spence, is
Visit Belfast Chair David Gavaghan (centre) and Chief Executive Gerry Lennon.
The organisation that promotes Belfast as a business,
leisure and cruise destination to domestic and international markets, reflected
on a year which saw it handle a record 550,000 tourist enquiries, steer the
delivery of a record 63 cruise ships through its Cruise Belfast partnership
with Belfast Harbour and secure a local economic return of £40 million from
conferences and events secured.
Showcasing the successes and achievements made in 2014,
Visit Belfast is now aiming to more than double the number of leisure and
business overnight stays it generates from 290,000 to 690,000 within three
years, driven by campaigns that will target younger and more international
travellers as well as ‘culturally curious’ visitors attracted by the city’s
heritage and uniqueness.
By 2018, Visit Belfast said its wider remit as a
Destination Marketing and Management Organisation focuses on driving growth in
leisure, business and cruise visitors, and handling two million enquiries over
a three-year period. In meeting all the
challenging targets set, it will deliver a record return of £370 million to the
local economy.
In his second address as Chair of Visit Belfast, David
Gavaghan said:
“Our tourism vision for Belfast is ambitious and bold. It
harnesses the assets of the city and it builds upon the good collaborative work
undertaken over the past 10 years.
“Working with Belfast City Council and all our
tourism partners and stakeholders, we look forward with confidence and
commitment to delivering on our goals for the year ahead and beyond.”