1. Executive Summary

1. Executive Summary

Background

Antrim and Newtownabbey possesses a rich cultural and natural heritage, good access and sufficient business infrastructure to establish and sustain a substantial and successful tourism sector. The Borough’s principal resources with potential for development for tourism are cultural heritage supported by gardens and parks, waterways and festival and events programme.

Development Potential

The Borough has a number of major attractions of regional significance in terms of visitor numbers and/or of historic and cultural importance such as Antrim Castle Gardens and Clotworthy House and Shane’s Castle. These sites attract significant and growing numbers, whereas the Borough’s forests, activity sites, museums and theatres provide a regular and sustainable flow of tourists into the Borough, albeit with potential for growth.

There is extensive open space sport and outdoor recreation provision across the Borough including a number of formal parks in the main urban areas. There are opportunities for recreational walking and cycling in the Borough including the Newtownabbey Way and other shorter waymarked routes. The tourism offer of neighbouring Belfast City Council and the ease of access to substantial natural assets that include Lough Neagh, Belfast Lough Shore, the Lower Bann Valley, and parts of both the Belfast Hills and Antrim Hills, creates a diverse range of potential tourism assets in the Borough.

Tourism assets in the Borough are concentrated in several hubs. Antrim Town provides a range of historic, cultural and activity tourism interests. Randalstown and Newtownabbey provide minor hubs, with the latter providing a more commercial leisure focus of tourism interests. Other assets are distributed evenly throughout the Sixmilewater Valley or are close to the A6 corridor. There is a noticeable gap in tourism assets in rural areas to the south of Antrim, Templepatrick and Mallusk despite the area having an abundance of accommodation available.

Antrim and Newtownabbey is located between two of Northern Ireland’s most significant key tourism destination areas, namely Belfast and the Causeway Coast and Glens. There is good access into the Borough, public transport is good and transport networks within the Borough are good. Antrim and Newtownabbey has a strong hotel and conference facility provision, but a shortage of tourism products and experiences – ‘things to see and do’.

Antrim and Newtownabbey visitor attractions are not sufficiently developed or presented to the market. Through the boost provided by the Tourism NI Draft Tourism Strategy 2025, and by collaborating with neighbouring Local Authorities, private sector developers and operators, and local communities, Antrim and Newtownabbey can develop a distinctive range of tourism products that will complement tourism developments in Northern Ireland and generate substantial socio-economic benefits for the Borough. Opportunities exist for Antrim and Newtownabbey to deliver a visitor destination, achievable within an environment of fiscal constraints, by looking at creative ways to leverage investment.

Key Findings and Recommendations

The Strategy for Antrim and Newtownabbey 2017 -2022 will drive awareness and encourage tourism and recreational use of the Borough’s resources. Developments to facilitate such usage will focus on:

• Enhancing the Visitor Experience and Product Development including developments under: Culture and Heritage; Natural Heritage; Outdoors; Festivals and Events; Business tourism;

Accommodation; Food and the Evening Economy, each supported by the development of clusters and corridors; and engaging with visitor markets activities. • Improving Access and Infrastructure including developments under: Visitor Information

Centres; Transport Facilities; and Services Directional and interpretative signage; and • Effective People and Skills Development.

In developing its range of tourism products, it is proposed that Antrim and Newtownabbey should focus on following developments to ensure that all areas and communities receive socio-economic benefit for the development of the sector. These will be:

1. Cultural heritage development through the following innovations: Ancient Celtic and Medieval

History; Plantation of Ulster and Ulster Scots; Industrial heritage; World War I and World War

II; Combat and Clashes: Battle of Antrim, Nine Years War; and Vikings. 2. Clusters of attractions and activities centred on parks and gardens; waterway developments; outdoor activity, festival and events developments and the provision an eco-tourism experience. 3. Business tourism and a strengthening of marketing support for business tourism through emphasis on the infrastructure and facilities available in the Borough;

These primary product developments will be supplemented and complemented through development and marketing support for activities in: • The food and evening entertainment provision; • A broadened range of visitor accommodation oriented towards the interest and preferences of target market segments; • Improvements to access around the Borough; • Interpretation and directional signage and visitor information provision; • Marketing and branding of the Borough; • People and skills development through establishing tourism skills and training programmes and tourism awareness programmes.

Markets

Antrim and Newtownabbey has two diverse but equally important markets – leisure/recreation and business. The developments proposed and current offering detailed in this strategy must be marketed using appropriate tools, with a focus on matching the offering with primary market segments, as follows:

Domestic

• Mature Cosmopolitans • Family Fun • Time Together

ROI, GB and Overseas

• Culturally Curious • Great Escapers • Social Energisers (secondary) • Young and Lively (ROI only)

Considering the maturity of the visitor offering presently in the Borough, it is felt that the initial primary focus should be on the domestic market, concentrating efforts on reviewing and developing the product for the local and NI market initially. Awareness of the tourism offering in Antrim and Newtownabbey is currently not strong. Focusing on the domestic market in the first instance will

ensure the offering is of sufficient standard, clustered effectively and that marketing activity has been increased and enhanced. This is likely to take years 1 and 2 to progress. Thereafter (and potentially with some overlap in Year 2) activity should focus on consolidating the domestic market but also developing the out of state market, once the product has embedded and the sector’s confidence and skills have developed to support self-assured promotion and continued development of the offering.

Action Plan

To put the strategy into practice over a five-year period, an Action Plan is presented in the following five themes: • Organisation and Management; • Visitor Experience and Product Development; • Access and Infrastructure; • Engaging with the Visitor Markets and Marketing; and People Skills Development.

Realisation of the Action Plan Antrim and Newtownabbey will ensure a well-established range of tourism attractions and activities targeted at its primary market segments and supported by a strong private sector.