The annual NI Tourism Statistics 2017 were released today (07/06/18) by Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).
Welcoming the figures, Gerry Lennon, Chief Executive of Visit Belfast, the city’s official tourism marketing agency, said:
“It is great to see another year of tourism growth in Northern Ireland, with overnight trips and spend up 6% and 9% respectively.
With the recent accolades from travel experts Lonely Planet and National Geographic Traveller, Belfast and Northern Ireland are well and truly on the global tourism map. Accounting for almost half of the accommodation stock in Northern Ireland, Belfast is a city resurgent with 80% room occupancy across the year.
Visit Belfast is the city region’s destination marketing agency tasked with increasing visitor numbers and spend across city breaks, conference and cruise tourism. With additional hotel capacity to accommodate further growth, Belfast’s potential as a leading international visitor destination is continuing to be realised.
Visit Belfast handled 837,000 enquires throughout 2017 so it comes as no surprise that unprecedented spend and record holiday number are being reported by the national statistics agency.
This provides a great foundation for our planned sales and marketing activities which will deliver an economic return of more than £500 million over the next four years.”
ENDS…//