4 BOOSTING TOURISM AND REGENERATING OUR REGION The programme of investment in Tourism and Regeneration aims to create a regional, sustainable, year-round tourism product that will provide standout in international markets. The investment in diverse world-class visitor attractions will create spill over benefits for local economies, retained by indigenous SMEs and deliver a breadth of sustainable, entry level to highly skilled, employment opportunities across the region.
This investment in Tourism and Regeneration has the potential to play a critical part in the region’s economic recovery; focusing long-term and transformative investments to address a legacy of under investment, building on key areas of economic strength and creating resilience to future shocks and stresses. Although the BRCD cannot provide answers to some of the immediate challenges facing the tourism and hospitality sector, partners are working with industry and government partners through the Tourism Recovery Steering Group to develop and implement plans that will seek to reduce the impacts on this key sector of our economy. These will focus initially on minimising the ‘leakage’ of tourists out of NI through campaigns and schemes to encourage domestic trips and to support local accommodation and hostelries. In addition to new tourism products, investment is being directed towards towns that have suffered from industrial decline and economic restructuring, so that they have the opportunity to play a full part in the region’s growth. The 17
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regeneration outturn of this investment will see transformational improvements in the quality of the environment that will benefit local economies and communities and promote public wellbeing and will also serve as a catalyst for investment from, and collaboration with, private sector businesses.
Through our integrated programme of investment in digital innovation, digital technology will be used to support, improve and extend the quality of visitors’ experience and to help tackle the regeneration challenges faced by our rapidly changing towns and city centres. Innovative and creative use of digital technology in our tourism and regeneration projects can also provide a platform to advance schemes that anticipate climate change and support the UK Government’s 2050 carbon neutral commitment. Despite the pre-pandemic trend of healthy growth, there was broad agreement that the capacity of the existing tourism infrastructure in NI generally was beginning to constrain the industry. NI has room to expand its offer through the provision of new attractions and experiences of scale; a critical mass of new, innovative tourism products of sufficient appeal and credibility; products that respond to international and domestic consumer demand; which add new and complementary dimensions to the current offer17.
Information in this section drawn from the BRCD Tourism and Regeneration Strategic Narrative
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