AQW 19195/22-27

Ms Kate Nicholl
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 03/12/2024
Answered On Date: 06/12/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy how sustainable tourism itineraries are being promoted to overseas visitors to Northern Ireland.

Answer:

Tourism Ireland highlights sustainable tourism itineraries and how overseas visitors can enjoy the North sustainably via a range of platforms, including publicity, advertising, social media and on its international website, Ireland.com. These focus on sustainable through both attractions and ways of travelling about the region.

Current examples of this include;

A new TV series called Fred’s Tour De Ireland, co-produced by Tourism Ireland and fronted by TV presenter Fred Sirieix, which features the Mournes, Strangford, Belfast, the Causeway Coast and Derry promoting sustainable exploration of Ireland by overseas visitors.

The Tourism Ireland team in Spain shared details of train journeys on with Condé Nast Traveler, including the Derry to Coleraine train and the vintage train from Downpatrick to Inch Abbey. The website has an average of 2 million unique users monthly.

In June 2025, Tourism Ireland will run a ‘Slow Tourism’ month promoting car-free travel itineraries to encourage sustainable exploration of the regions of Ireland.

Tourism Ireland regularly shares sustainable tourism story ideas with its database of 20,000+ international travel and lifestyle journalists and on Tourism Ireland’s international website, there are pages specifically about how overseas visitors can enjoy Ireland sustainably.