More people are visiting the North from overseas and spending more when they are there, new figures have indicated.
Around 1.2 million foreign tourists spent at least one night in the region between January and September last year - a 6 per cent increase on the same period in 2010. The holidaymakers spent an estimated £291 million (€352 million) in that time - up 20 per cent on the previous year.
Welcoming the increasing number of visitors, tourism minister Arlene Foster also noted the importance of “staycations” spent by those in the North elsewhere in the region.
Between January and September local people took 1.5 million overnight trips within Northern Ireland - with an associated spend of £121 million. In the same period residents took 4.7 million leisure day trips within the region, of which 1.8 million were tourism-related visits.
Overall an estimated 1,522,000 hotel, guesthouse and bed & breakfast rooms were sold in the period, an increase of 3 per cent on 2010.
“It is encouraging to be able to report a 6 per cent increase in overseas visitors to Northern Ireland, coupled with an increase in revenue of 20 per cent for the first nine months of 2011,” said Ms Foster.
“Visitor numbers and revenue generated from trips by GB residents to Northern Ireland have also increased. This promising performance is very timely given the recent launch of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s NI2012 campaign, ‘Your Time, Our Place’ and momentum will increase as we move further into 2012," she added.
PA