OVER three million visitors arrived in West Belfast last year, contributing around £135 million, new figures have revealed.
It comes after the latest report by West Belfast tourism body Fáilte Feirste Thiar on visitor volume and trends analysis report for 2024. The record numbers represent a 50 per cent increase since 2019 when two million visitor trips were recorded.
In 2006, research evidenced that West Belfast attracted 650,000 visitor trips.
Harry Connolly, director of Fáilte Feirste Thiar, explained how the figures are compiled.
"In 2006 the first ever guestimation of visitor numbers and their impact on West Belfast was carried out, and it showed there were 650,000 visitors," he said. "From then until now, Fáilte Feirste Thiar have carried out our own survey using a sort of methodology that measures visitor trips.
"Visitor trips is different than obviously an international visitor, because you have the capacity to count and measure international visitors.
"However, what we have done then is engaged with all of those tour operators that bring folks to West Belfast and we've engaged with all of our established visitor attractions and tourism facing businesses, including some of the flagship hospitality organisations.
"We've simply asked them to count how many visitors they have each year. In 2019 it was a record year for tourism, and we had over two million visitor trips.
"Then we had Covid, which absolutely knocked the stuffing out of tourism. In 2022 and 2023, we got back to about 50 per cent of pre-Covid numbers.
"2024 was huge and we can now reveal a total of 3,044,083 visitor trips in West Belfast.
"The vast majority of them are coming into our parks and green spaces followed by flagship hospitality attractions, cultural and visitor attractions. There's about 68,000 people staying in our local hotels."
TOURISM SUCCESS: The team from West Belfast tourism body Fáilte Feirste Thiar, along with West Belfast MP Paul Maskey
The report also examined the 2024 figures in relation to the local economy, revealing a total value of tourism to West Belfast to the sum of £135,421,270.
That equates to £119,063,320 in day trips, based on Visit Belfast research of £40 per day and £16,357,950 for overnight visitor trips, based on the average spend of £242.34 per person.
"If you take those three million visitor trips to West Belfast, then the value for tourism to West Belfast is potentially in the region of well over £132 million in 2024," continued Harry.
"The other thing to say, which is really important about the report, is we've always edged on the conservative side, and even when you edge on the conservative side, you're getting these fantastic numbers and results.
"There is no doubt that tourism is a transformative economic driver in West Belfast, not on its own, but with the hospitality industry, with the local small and medium enterprises, with other big business that's located in West Belfast.
"It shows that the local economy here is moving forward, and it's underpinned by a progressive model of community and people, and it's centered around ensuring local people benefit from all of the benefits associated.
"We're absolutely thrilled and delighted with the figures. It shows that the tourism is good for West Belfast. It shows that it's a major social and economic, transformative driver in the local economy.
"It is fitting that this year marks 25 years since the founding of Fáilte Feirste Thiar and you can see the journey of tourism growing tremendously and our latest piece of research shows that tourism is breaking all sorts of records locally in West Belfast.
"Our core tourism offer is underpinned by the eclectic mix of culture, language, people, politics, murals from conflict to peace, a place where the conflict resonated most, and it's a a place now where the outworking of that in terms of peace can be seen most and felt.
"Going forward by 2028 which is in three years time, we want to grow those visitor numbers from just over three million to five million."
