Visit Belfast and its tourism partners have joined thousands of global travel companies at this year’s World Tourism Market. Due to the Coronavirus, the leading three day business to business sales event is being held virtually for the first time in its 40 year history.
As part of an all-Ireland stand, Visit Belfast has been joined by partners across the Belfast City Region representing accommodation, tours, transport and attractions strengthening existing and making new business contacts in preparation for tourism recovery and the hoped resumption of unrestricted travel in 2021.
Tourism has become a vital element of the city region’s economy so it’s as important as ever that the city’s tourism offering is promoted as widely as possible to key travel professionals across the world and highlight that Belfast and its tourism business are ready to welcome visitors back safely and confidently. Visit Belfast’s CEO Gerry Lennon said:
“Before the onslaught of Covid-19 and its impact on our tourism and hospitality, we were justifiably proud of how far we had travelled as an industry over the last two decades – tourism was not just driving visitor numbers and spend into the city region but it had become one of the success stories and an important player in its renaissance and regeneration. For the most part, the upward trajectory looked like it would continue unabated, but sadly that has not been the case.
“Being able to return the World Travel Market, albeit virtually, enables Visit Belfast and its partner businesses to remain highly visible to the travel trade near and far and highlight the resilience and creativity our industry has become renowned for as we look forward to reopening our doors to international visitors in the near future.”
Visit Belfast was joined virtually on the Belfast stand by the Clayton Hotel Group, DC Tours, Fáilte Feirste Thiar, James Connolly Visitor Centre, Taste and Tour NI, Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council and Ards and North Down Borough Council. Other Visit Belfast partner businesses including Andras House, Hastings Hotels, Titanic Belfast, the McKeever Group, Stena Line, National Museums NI, Seamus Heaney Home Place and JK Coaches also attended the World Travel Market 2020.
Notes for editors
Visit Belfast is a public/private sector partnership funded and supported by Belfast City Council, Tourism NI, strategic and corporate partners Translink, Diageo NI, Value Cabs, ICC Belfast, Hastings Hotels, Titanic Belfast and Belfast One and 520 industry partners.
Visit Belfast is the official destination marketing organisation (DMO) for the Belfast city region, dedicated to promoting Belfast as a city break, conference and cruise ship destination. It is also responsible for the operation of three gateway tourist information centres.
Visit Belfast represents over 500 tourism businesses and services across the industry including accommodation providers, attractions, conference venues and services, tour operators, transport providers, event organisers, entertainment venues, restaurants and cafes, and pubs and clubs.
It provides an extensive range of marketing platforms for tourism businesses to promote their products and services to travel trade and consumers.
For more information about Visit Belfast, go to visitbelfastpartners.com