AQW 7511/22-27

Mr Stephen Dunne
Democratic Unionist Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 26/02/2024
Answered On Date: 11/03/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy what plans his Department has to help high street hospitality businesses.

Answer:

Tourism NI, Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland are working in partnership to deliver a €7.6m programme to improve synergies and experiences for visitors to the Causeway Coastal Route (CCR) and Wild Atlantic Way (WAW).

This programme will deliver increased connectivity and improved visitor experience across the WAW and the CCR, providing an opportunity to bring together two of the most internationally renowned experiences that the island of Ireland has to offer. By demonstrating to the international visitor, the connectivity of the two routes and showcasing the Northwest of the island as a gateway to these two iconic experiences, it will create a dynamic proposition encouraging international visitors to explore more widely, stay longer, and spend more.

One strand of the programme will be to undertake an audit of the CCR to assess the current visitor experience and develop appropriate discovery points along the route in line with the current WAW experience. This will include concepting of signage along the route. This work will be carried out in 2024 and all key stakeholders will be engaged before recommendations are implemented.

A second strand of the programme aims to launch a small capital grants scheme for public and private businesses on both sides of the border. This will allow businesses aligned with the brands to apply for grant funding to improve interpretation, visitor experience etc. The scheme is being developed in partnership with the three agencies with the aim to launch by summer 2024.

A programme of consumer research is currently live in four overseas market (Britain, USA, France & Germany). Findings from the research will inform a market campaign to be launched later in 2024 in one overseas market. The initial phase of the marketing campaign will be to highlight the accessibility of the two routes on one visit for international holidaymakers, building on the appeal of these two iconic tourism products.