Work on Belfast's £100 million sterling (€162.07 million) millennium Odyssey complex on the city's waterfront is "on budget and on target", with the first phase, a 10,000-seat indoor sports arena, opening its doors at the end of November, according to the project's marketing director, Mr Rob Vick.
The rest of the complex is due to open at the end of March next year. Almost half of the funding, £45 million sterling, comes from the UK Millennium Fund, with the Sheraton group contributing £17 million.
Other contributors are the Department of Education for Northern Ireland (£17 million), the Laganside Corporation (£9 million) and the Northern Ireland Sports Council (£2.5 million).
The 23-acre site, which is being marketed as "Ireland's number one tourist attraction" and expects to receive two million visitors a year, has recently been criticised as an "expensive white elephant" imposed on the North's taxpayers without proper consultation.
But Mr Vick says his team has carried out extensive market research which showed that a great majority of people wanted the project.
"We haven't begun any public relation campaigns yet, so it is true that public awareness of the Odyssey is still low. But we found that among those who were properly informed, there was great enthusiasm for the complex and what it is going to provide for the people of Northern Ireland."
Mr Vick says the constant parallels drawn between the Odyssey and London's Millennium Dome are "frustrating and unfair".
"There is no comparison. First of all, we at the Odyssey have been realistic about our completion date and the cost of the project, which is only one eighth of that in Greenwich.
"Moreover, this is a long-term project accessible to all the people of Northern Ireland, who, we hope, will make many repeat visits to the many different venues."
The public promotion campaign for the Odyssey will start in September, although efforts to attract commercial visitors such as tour operators are already under way. The Odyssey team and the Laganside Corporation, which has been in charge of co-ordinating the £500 million regeneration of Belfast's waterfront, are also currently working on improving transport links between the harbour site and the city centre.
Laganside's planning director, Mr Kyle Alexander, is convinced the Odyssey complex will become a landmark on the city's skyline, just like the Waterfront Hall.
"We hope the Odyssey will not only turn into one of Ireland's main tourist attractions, but will also act as a catalyst for the development of Queen's Island and the entire east bank of the Lagan in the coming years."
