The end of another year gives us the opportunity to reflect on the one just past and plan for the year ahead. From a tourism perspective, I am looking forward to 2025 with excitement, as the Open Championship returns to Royal Portrush Golf Club.
The fact that it is coming back for the second time in six years is a reflection of just how successful the event was last time around. At Tourism NI we are delighted to have the opportunity to once again showcase to the world what a fabulous tourism and golfing destination Northern Ireland has now become, building on the success of this year’s Irish Open at Royal County Down.
In 2019, hosting the Open was the pinnacle of an unprecedented period of growth within the tourism sector and was a year when overnight visitor spend broke through the £1bn barrier. Never could we have anticipated the arrival of Covid-19 soon after and the terrible impact it was to have on global tourism.
Statistics from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) for 2023 show we have pretty much recovered from the ravages of Covid. Thanks to the indominable spirit of the people who work within the sector, overnight spend reached £1.2bn. For the first time the statistics included a value for day trips, which stood at £1.1bn, making tourism worth £2.3bn in 2023.
All the data available to date points to performance in 2024 being on a par with the previous year. While the domestic market has been softer, primarily due to cost of living pressures and the poor weather, this has been compensated for by the return of visitors from the US and GB markets.
The hotel sector has been particularly buoyant with room sales for the first 10 months in 2024 up and average room rates 27% above the levels attained in 2019. The growth has not been uniform though. While places like Belfast and Derry have benefited from the return of international visitors, locations such as Fermanagh, which are more dependent upon the domestic market have found things slightly more challenging.
Despite the rising costs, the industry remains optimistic about the future. A recent survey of tourism businesses conducted by Tourism NI indicates that 80% of respondents were positive in their outlook for next year.
That confidence is reflected in the ongoing investment we are seeing in the accommodation sector with the opening of a number of new properties and recent acquisitions by local operators like the Galgorm Collection, McKeever Group and Andras House all very prominent in the market. That optimism is also shared by major players from the Republic of Ireland like the Inua and MHL Collections who have entered the local market for the first time, bringing with them exciting new brands to Belfast like the Voco and Moxi hotels.
I recently had the opportunity to view Dunluce Lodge, the new luxury offering overlooking Royal Portrush Golf Course which is due to open in February. This ambitious investment by the Texas-based Links Collection follows on from AJ Capital’s recent acquisition of the Adelphi, Slieve Donard and now the Atlantic Hotel in Portrush, making Northern Ireland an increasingly popular destination for the lucrative golf and luxury segments of the tourism market.
As the chair of Tourism NI I have the opportunity to meet with many providers within our local industry. I am pleased to say that it is not only our accommodation sector that is flourishing, but we have also seen many new authentic tourism experiences and attractions recently emerge, that allow our visitors to enjoy our landscape and explore our unique culture and heritage.
January will see the Economy Minister Conor Murphy launch a new Tourism Vision and Action Plan for the next decade. I very much welcome this pathway for growth and believe that tourism has a major contribution to make to a productive, sustainable and regionally balanced economy. The return of the Open in July is a great platform from which to embark upon this exciting journey.
Ellvena Graham is chair of Tourism NI