Tourism: The road to recovery

John McGrillen, Chief Executive of Tourism NI, with Alex Polizzi, the Hotel Inspector and Economy Minister Gordon Lyons MLA.

Ireland intend to take a short break here over the late spring and summer period and around one in seven are considering a longer break.

We are also seeing the return of events and conferences and Cruise Belfast has already welcomed cruise ships into Belfast in the past month, with a positive outlook for the rest of the year.

The return of air access to the island of Ireland is crucial, as is maintaining and enhancing our domestic and international air connectivity. By the summer of 2022 it is anticipated that 92 per cent of the 2019 seat capacity onto the island of Ireland will have returned with seat capacity into Northern Ireland sitting closer to 75 per cent. Flybe’s return to the George Best Belfast City Airport is both an indication that the conditions required for recovery and future growth are encouraging, as well as a vote of confidence in Belfast being announced as its second base.

Having come out of the pandemic we are however now facing a new set of challenges. We are seeing a dramatic increase in energy, raw material, food and labour costs and of course an unwelcome return to a 20 per cent VAT rate. All of these are impacting upon businesses’ bottom line.

These costs are of course also impacting on customers as disposable income levels are reduced. Whilst demand in the short term is buoyant, it is important that we remain competitive and continue to be perceived as a value for money destination. The task for 2022 is therefore going to be managing costs whilst providing value for money and retaining the customer satisfaction levels achieved in 2021.

Covid has brought with it unexpected consequences. Many people have re-evaluated their lifestyles and have left the workplace in what has become known as the “Great Resignation”. This has had an acute impact upon the tourism and hospitality sector, exacerbating the labour shortages the industry was already facing in the aftermath of Brexit. Simultaneously we are witnessing increasing numbers of young people in the 16-24 age group joining the ranks of the economically inactive. History has shown us that the impact of people of this age not entering the workplace becomes a generational problem with life-long consequences. The tourism and hospitality sector across the UK provides 50 per cent of young people of this age with their first ever job and provides them with the employability skills to progress up the employment ladder. Given the right support many of our young people could find long term employment opportunities within our vibrant tourism and hospitality businesses.

Earlier this year, Tourism NI in partnership with the Hospitality and Tourism Skills network (HATS) launched a widespread, heavyweight tactical recruitment campaign across Northern Ireland from January 2022. The results are very impressive and has shown the huge potential to place many people in employment as things get tougher for households here.

2019 saw us welcome the 148th Open to Portrush and achieve a record breaking £1 billion in revenue, It is due to return in 2025. There may be bumps along the road to recovery but I am confident that the resilience, innovation and collaboration we have witnessed over the past two years will see us match that £1 billion spend by 2025 and set us on a positive growth trajectory to the end of the decade and beyond.

Contact Us | TNI (tourismni.com) T: 028 9023 1221

An immersive connection to local culture

Newry, Mourne and Down has long been recognised for its unique opportunity to experience the outdoors against a composite backdrop of landscape and culture.

With a coastline of approximately 150km, three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Mourne, the Ring of Gullion, and Strangford and Lecale, and its location on the strategically important Eastern Economic Corridor, tourism is a key driver for growth in the district.

During the term of the Council’s Tourism Strategy from 2017 to 2022, a key priority has been on developing destination experiences, with a commitment to delivering transformative projects and critical infrastructure.

The growing demand for developing new authentic visitor experiences with an immersive connection to local culture has been the focus of council’s industry engagement to date. The Council has worked in collaboration with Tourism NI and local tourism providers to bring to life new and unique experiences which are aligned to the ‘Embrace a Giant Spirit’ brand for Northern Ireland. The core of building these new experiences has been based on storytelling, using stories to help visitors connect with the past and gain unique insights on the present, whether it is the geology of the area, its history and traditions, its contemporary culture or simply the way local people make a livelihood. Where landscapes and distinctive settings have inspired art, literature, music and films, these have added another dimension to presenting local towns and villages to new visitors of the region.

The tourism industry has been building destination experiences that are distinctive and of sufficient scale to provide visitor appeal. A cluster of businesses are collaborating to utilise produce from farmers, chefs, foragers, distillers and artisans to shine a light on the wonderful produce in the region and to tell the story of the important role the local landscape provides in the distinctive experiences that have been developed in this area.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council has developed, implemented and taken part in several ambitious projects and programmes, all of which are designed to enhance the district’s well-deserved reputation as a place to be for tourism, leisure and business activities.

The most ambitious of these investment programmes is the Belfast Region City Deal.