Driving tourism growth and economic impact in Northern Ireland
With Summer 2026 approaching, Tourism Northern Ireland is sharply focused on one priority: maximising tourism’s contribution to the economy by driving demand, increasing visitor spend, and strengthening the competitiveness of local businesses, writes David Roberts, Director of Strategic Development at Tourism Northern Ireland.
Tourism is a cornerstone of the Northern Ireland economy, built on world-class landscapes, a deep history, a rich culture, excellent food and drink, and brilliant people.
A key economic driver across the region, tourism supports 70,000 jobs, 6,000 businesses and strengthens communities, all while showcasing our unique offering on a global stage.
Recent performance underlines that strength, with 3.9 million overnight visitors and £918 million in spend recorded in the first nine months of 2025, continuing a clear upward trajectory.
Above this positive foundation, however, the current geopolitical situation is creating headwinds as visitor confidence is lessened and some plans are being changed or reconsidered.
Add the cost of living and the cost of doing business into this mix and the operational environment for the tourism industry is especially challenging.
Converting opportunity into revenue
Keeping close to the changing context and adopting a flexible response is a key focus at Tourism NI.
Recent research revealed that international travel is being reconsidered by some consumers, with one fifth cancelling or less likely to take a long-haul trip in the next six months.
Other research shows that 50 per cent of those surveyed in the Republic of Ireland say they are now more inclined to consider Northern Ireland as a holiday destination, while 61 per cent of respondents living in Northern Ireland also favour staying close to home this year.
This has created a clear opportunity to drive further growth in tourism from both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland consumers.
With competition from other markets intensifying, it is ultimately destination differentiation, which is what makes Northern Ireland different and memorable, that drives demand.
We need to be truly unique and compelling to win that additional tourism business, and that starts with our industry.
Strengthening industry capability
During the past 12 months, we delivered an extensive tourism business support and learning programme, which saw more than 30 events attended by almost 1,800 business representatives.
These supports ranged from the power of AI and marketing to delivering a luxury tourism experience, all of which provided our local industry with expert knowledge and advice about how to enhance their product and visitor experience.
Our dedicated e-learning platform, ‘MyTourismNI’, continues to grow, with almost 600 users. Tailored for Northern Ireland’s tourism and hospitality sector, the platform offers almost 50 free courses designed to enhance marketing, digital operations, and sustainability skills.
Securing future business through global trade
This support was boosted in March by the delivery of our largest ever ‘Meet the Buyer’ travel trade event.
Celebrating its 35th year, over the two-day workshop more than 6,000 sales appointments took place between 225 representatives from the region’s tourism businesses and 180 international tour operators, who are responsible for designing future itineraries for their clients who are keen to visit the island of Ireland.
Local industry took the opportunity to pitch their diverse range of products and experiences to the international buyers from 16 key global markets including North America, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Europe.
Following the workshop, many of the international buyers took part in a series of familiarisation trips, which allowed them to sample at first hand a host of tourist attractions, accommodation and experiences across the region.
Such trips play an essential role in raising awareness of what Northern Ireland has to offer and securing business in future years.
Feedback from the event has been extremely strong, with 98 per cent of industry rating it as either good or excellent.
In addition, over 95 per cent of participants said they achieved or exceeded their objectives at the event while more than 90 per cent said they had strengthened existing relationships.
Investing in quality, people and sustainability
In recent months, we also delivered a new series of Regional Innovate Tourism Roadshows, which supported the industry to strengthen their business offering by refreshing their visitor experience, increasing visitor value and strengthening sustainability and resilience.
Attendees also had the opportunity to have direct one-to-one appointments with Tourism NI teams to get advice and support in diverse areas including marketing, events, e-learning, and accommodation certification and grading, during dedicated business clinics.
Our Sustainable Tourism Business Programme also continues to drive positive change and good practice across the sector. To date, 84 tourism businesses have completed the programme.
Offering structured mentoring and training, the programme enables businesses across Northern Ireland to develop sustainable tourism offerings.
It emphasises the importance of sustainability storytelling and explores broader themes such as accessibility, biodiversity and community.
Facilitated by The Tourism Space, in partnership with Ulster University, businesses which complete the programme gain a Level 4 Certificate of Achievement in Sustainable Tourism Practice in Destinations.
Driving demand
In the first quarter of 2026, we delivered three significant marketing campaigns to drive demand to Northern Ireland. Our broad-based Spring campaign was underpinned by Tourism NI’s ‘Embrace A Giant Spirit’ brand.
It encouraged potential visitors to ‘take a small step to a giant adventure’ providing inspiration on things to do, places to visit and where to stay.
A tailored ‘Legenderry’ visitor campaign focused on celebrating the energy, culture and unforgettable experiences that make the City stand out.
An additional campaign focused on promoting Fermanagh as a destination where giant adventures flow, inspiring visitors to take a short break to enjoy stunning lakes, ancient landscapes, quality accommodation and giant tastes.
This campaign followed the announcement of a new licensing agreement between Tourism NI and Fáilte Ireland on the use of the ‘Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands’ brand. Eligible tourism businesses in Fermanagh can now utilise the brand and its assets, boosting their reach and generating increased interest.
Collectively, these three campaigns delivered a combined 325 million impacts across the island of Ireland, prompting 1.6 million visits to discovernorthernireland.com
A total of 300 tourism businesses featured as part of the campaigns with £6 million worth of PR value generated.
And there is more to come.
In May 2026, Tourism NI launched an additional programme of summer marketing activity.
Running until June 30, the activity will drive demand for short breaks and days out this summer, showing how you do not have to go away to ‘get away’, whilst highlighting the convenience, ease, flexibility and value for money of a short break or day out in Northern Ireland.
The activity will be underpinned by industry offers and value-added events and experiences with options to suit every interest, pace and budget.
On completion, the activity will have generated 15 million advertising impacts and resulted in seven million clicks.
Support for our industry will be further boosted with the launch of a new Workplace Excellence Programme.
Designed to assist tourism and hospitality businesses across Northern Ireland improve their people management practices, the Programme has been developed at a time when the industry continues to face workforce related challenges.
Whilst there have been improvements in many people-related aspects of the tourism sector in recent years, some businesses experience skills shortages and recruitment difficulties, labour market competition, and management and leadership gaps. AI challenges are increasingly evident too.
The Workplace Excellence Programme will address these challenges, promote best practice and support broader efforts to enhance the desirability of the industry as a place to work.
It aims to do this through fostering a culture of excellence in the workplace through employee engagement and development, meeting the demands of a changing labour market by supporting the attraction and retention of talent, as well as continuously enhancing the appeal of the workplace.
In addition, by helping businesses enhance their employee practices, the programme will support inclusive and sustainable talent attraction and retention across the sector.
The Programme forms part of a first ever Skills Plan for the sector, one of the key priorities in Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald MLA’s 10-Year Vision and Action Plan for Tourism.
Tourism NI is also preparing to launch a Business Resilience Programme which is aimed at providing direct access to a financial expert to identify and remedy cost concerns as we seek to provide extra support to the industry to maximise their competitiveness.
The businesses taking part will receive a ‘Financial Health Check’ – a bespoke action plan – and three hours of individual mentoring. Outcomes are focused on increased business resilience and financial capability.
Events as economic catalysts
In a dedicated effort to continue to grow our visitor numbers and support our industry, over the next 12 months, Tourism NI will fund 16 events through our International Tourism Events Fund (ITEF).
From the arts to music, sport and science, a broad spectrum of events will be supported across the region.
The ITEF supports events that attract significantly high levels of visitors to Northern Ireland while also generating international media coverage, which helps to showcase the region as a must see travel destination.
It is projected that the events will collectively generate over £34 million for the Northern Ireland economy by attracting just over one million visitors, 24 per cent of whom will be from out-of-state.
The visitors will result in just over 185,000 commercial bed nights – including hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses, and self-catering – being booked across the region.
And our industry has much to look forward to this summer.
Around 700,000 visitors are expected to descend on Northern Ireland in August for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, the world’s largest annual festival of Irish music, song, dance, and competitions.
It is estimated that the Fleadh, which will also return to Belfast in 2027, will generate millions of pounds for the local economy with the benefits of the week-long celebration set to be felt across the region.
Tourism NI is currently working closely with the tourism industry and key partners to ensure a high-quality experience for all attendees.
Looking ahead
There is no doubt that 2026 is shaping up to be a busy and productive year for tourism in Northern Ireland.
While challenges remain, the focus is firmly on converting opportunity into economic value.
We will continue to drive demand through high-impact marketing, connect local businesses to international revenue streams, invest in skills, quality, and sustainability and position Northern Ireland as a distinctive, must-visit destination
Tourism is not just about movement – it is about economic return. And with the right strategy, partnerships, and industry capability, Northern Ireland is well placed to further grow its share of global tourism and maximise its value to the economy in the years ahead.
0-12 Linum Chambers, Bedford
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W: www.discovernorthernireland.com
