AQW 11273/22-27

Mr Stephen Dunne
Democratic Unionist Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 02/05/2024
Answered On Date: 17/05/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail any engagement he has had with VisitBritain in relation to his plans to grow Northern Ireland’s tourism industry.

Answer:

Tourism NI has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in place with VisitBritain covering both consumer and business tourism promotional activities and collaborative corporate workstreams.

Last year the North was featured in 51 pieces of promotional media coverage generated by VisitBritain, as well as hosting specific web pages promoting the North as a tourism destination as part of the relaunched VisitBritain website.

Tourism NI works with VisitBritain to promote local tourism experience providers through the VisitBritain Shop, an online sales platform which features visitor attractions and experiences.

Some local visitor attractions and experiences also partnered with VisitBritain in 2023 on a number of marketing and sales campaigns. Tourism NI also cooperate with VisitBritain through its participation on some regional operational boards and in knowledge sharing across a number of business areas including marketing, business development and data analytics

Tourism NI, alongside Visit Belfast and Visit Derry, participated in the VisitBritain Business Events Association Conference in February 2024. This was an opportunity to promote and sell the North as a leading international conference destination.

Both Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland are currently working in collaboration with VisitBritain to produce an Accessibility and Inclusivity Toolkit which will support a consistent approach to presenting accessibility information to consumers across Britain and Ireland.