Visitor numbers to Northern Ireland from the Republic, continental Europe and farther afield are rising.
Some 266,000 visitors from the Republic were recorded last year, a 6 per cent rise on the previous period.
Those arriving from the continent rose by more than 30 per cent to 176,000, while visitor totals from north America went up by some 20 per cent to 122,000 over the 2004 figure.
The rises are linked to the development of direct air links to the US and to a host of destinations in France, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland and the Mediterranean by no-frills airlines.
The addition of such routes has been supported by the British government's air-route development fund. Until late 2004, the only direct air route from Belfast to continental Europe was to Amsterdam.
However, there was a small drop recorded in the numbers of visitors from Britain, attributed to the loss of fast-ferry services and competition from eastern Europe. The total slipped by some 100,000 to 1.3 million.
The number of nights spent by visitors rose by 13 per cent from 8.504 million to 9.578 million. The market is now worth some £354 million (€512 million).
Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau chief executive Gerry Lennon said that the figures were welcome news of "Belfast's continually growing popularity as both a business and leisure destination".
Diane Dodds, a DUP Assembly member for West Belfast and a member of the Belfast City Council's tourism committee, said the city "now enjoys an established reputation in the city-break market".
Northern Ireland Hotels Federation chief executive Janice Gault said that industry confidence for the year ahead remained strong and "we are working closely with Tourism Ireland to continue to market Northern Ireland as the ideal holiday and short-break destination".