NORTHERN BUSINESS: Staff at a flagship tourist information centre in Belfast have fielded almost a quarter of a million inquiries, a rise of more than 30 per cent on the year before, according to the latest figures.
Since opening last April, around 185,000 visitors have passed through the doors of the Belfast Welcome Centre on Donegall Place, with further inquiries made via post, fax and e-mail.
The figure represents an increase of 34 per cent on inquiries and exceeds the target set by the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau which runs the centre.
"We set a target of 170,000 visitors and we have surpassed that by more than 15,000 which is very encouraging for the future," said BVCB chairman Mr Ciaran Rogan. In addition, retail income from the sale of gifts and souvenirs had more than doubled, he said.
Councillor Tom Hartley, the chairman of Belfast City Council's sub-committee on tourism and promotion of Belfast, said the figures were impressive when difficulties such as foot and mouth were taken into account.
"We all know there is a lot of hard work to do if we are to turn Belfast into one of Europe's top tourist destinations, but our figures indicate that we are heading in the right direction," he said.
Sir Reg Empey, Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, said it was critical for the future of the industry that Northern Ireland was perceived for "all that is good and not for its recent history".
"World tourism is a growth industry, so clearly the potential is there.
"Much has been achieved in Northern Ireland but there is still much to do.
"We have an excellent product and a developing infrastructure but we still need to develop a tourism product that is underpinned by quality and able to compete on the world stage," he said.
