AQW 46710/22-27

Ms Connie Egan
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 20/05/2026
Answered On Date: 02/06/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail any work her Department has undertaken to support tourism in Donaghadee, over the last five years.

Answer:

My 10 Year Tourism Vision & Action Plan sets out a key objective of doubling tourism spend to £2bn by 2035. I recognise the key role Councils, such as Ards & North Down Borough Council (AND) and our tourism industry play in reaching this ambitious target.

Tourism NI has developed a strong working relationship with AND council over many years and the CEO, Laura McCorry visited the Borough in April this year. Laura discussed the Council’s future plans with the council team and met industry stakeholders in the area.

Currently, there are ten local experience providers in the AND area that are part of Tourism NI’s Embrace a Giant Spirit Brand Experience Portfolio, all of which feature on Tourism NI’s consumer website, including Copeland Distillery in Donaghadee. There are several other tourism businesses in Donaghadee featured on the Tourism NI consumer site including Grace Neill’s historic pub, Pier 36 Restaurant and Donaghadee Golf Club.

Copeland Distillery, Donaghadee is also supported through its participation in the Tourism NI led NI Spirits Trail and Distillery Passport. As part of the network, the business has accessed 1:1 mentoring to support tourism and experience development, participated in distillery learning journeys and benefited from inclusion in wider promotional activity including Distillery Month, marketing campaigns and media visits.

In 2021, Tourism NI provided £220k of funding to AND council as part of a Market Led Product Development programme including various destination development activities.

Tourism NI’s Director of Destination Development recently presented at the launch of the AND council Visitor Promise video to encourage responsible tourism in the region.