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Tourism (Northern Ireland)

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship,Mr. Martlew. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr. Campbell) on securing this important debate, and I join other hon. Members in welcoming the Minister to her new responsibilities. I look forward to working with her. I shall not go over many of the arguments that have been put, but I want to deal briefly with several issues. It is a pleasure to listen to the comments made by the hon. Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan). I was born in the city of Londonderry, so I have a fond attachment to that part of the country. My parents live in County Fermanagh, in Ulster’s lakelands, so I have good connections there as well. In respect of the tourism industry in Northern Ireland, I have good connections all over. As a Belfast Member, my prime interest and responsibility relates to the city of Belfast. It has been mentioned that Belfast is the regional driver for tourism in Northern Ireland, and that is very much the case. Visitor numbers have risen between 1995 and 2005. While the number of overnight visitors to Northern Ireland has increased by 19 per cent. during that period, the corresponding figure for Belfast increased by 95 per cent. In those earlier days, Belfast was a byword for troubles, difficulties and all sorts of things, so we are starting from a fairly low base, but those figures show the extent to which it is a major driver in the tourism industry, especially for weekend and overnight visitors who come to the Province. There is enormous potential. In 2005, it was estimated that Northern Ireland’s tourist industry was worth £350 million, whereas the Irish Republic’s was worth £2.3 billion. That shows the discrepancy that exists, and hon. Members have mentioned some of the reasons for it: the well developed infrastructure and all the rest of it. There is enormous potential for the development of tourism to create jobs and economic regeneration in Northern Ireland. I understand that Dublin is the third most visited city in Europe, in terms of weekend visits and so on. Belfast is coming up the list, but we should be attracting far more visitors to the city. On that front, I am concerned that the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau—one of the main agencies that can help to attract visitors to the city—faces a £1 million cut in funding. I would like the Minister to consider that, because clearly that cut will make it more difficult to attract visitors to the city. That needs to be addressed. For comparison, 4 per cent. of the Republic of Ireland’s gross domestic product is tourism; for Scotland the figure is 6 per cent., and for Northern Ireland it is 2 per cent. We need to develop a vision for tourism in Northern Ireland. Reference was made to the debate in the Assembly yesterday, led by my hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson). In that debate, there was mention of the difficulties caused by the large public sector in Northern Ireland, and the challenges that Northern Ireland faces, with the decline in manufacturing industries and so on. Tourism has enormous potential to create the jobs needed in Northern Ireland, but that potential will not be reached unless we create a real vision for tourists, and unless we market and invest in the tourism product in Northern Ireland; that has not been done sufficiently. Colleagues and I recently had a meeting with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. We discussed in detail some of the products that need to be developed, and particularly some of the issues mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry, such as the whole issue of the Ulster-Scots heritage. Frankly, I am extremely disappointed with the approach that has been adopted. Not enough has been done to develop the tourism product, and much more work is needed. On the investment in marketing, reference has been made to Tourism Ireland, and clearly there is a role for the international marketing of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Tourism Ireland markets the island of Ireland abroad, in places such as Australia, America, Japan and the far east, but what causes me concern is the enormous amount of money going into tourism from Northern Ireland. By 2007-08, Northern Ireland will be putting £22 million into Tourism Ireland’s budget; that is one third of the overall budget. Two thirds of the budget comes from the Irish Republic, as has been mentioned. By 2007-08, the entire budget for the Northern Ireland Tourist Board will be £11.1 million, yet £22 million is going into funding Tourism Ireland from Northern Ireland. I recognise the need for a marketing exercise along the lines that have been described, and the role that Tourism Ireland plays, but given that hon. Members have talked about the need for investment, we need to think about this. We cannot sustain so great an investment in Tourism Ireland while investment is cut in other areas, as the hon. Member for Foyle mentioned. The Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau is suffering cuts and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board has an insufficient budget. There needs to be more balance, and I appeal to the Minister to look into the issue carefully. The money—it will be argued—goes into bringing people to Ireland, and so goes into bringing more people to Northern Ireland, but the fact is that only20 per cent. of people coming to Ireland come to Northern Ireland, and most of that 20 per cent. spend far less time in Northern Ireland than in southern Ireland. I say strongly to the Minister that we need to think again about this. There is a need for investment in marketing the island of Ireland, but in my view things are not properly balanced. There is far too much money going into Tourism Ireland, as opposed to developing the tourist product and the tourism marketing of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Finally, 2012 is coming up. The Olympics have been mentioned, but it is also the Titanic anniversary, so it is absolutely vital that the Government get a grip on the issue. Recently, I was at a meeting with the Minister’s colleague, the Minister for Social Development, about the return of the Nomadic. I very much welcome the fact that it has been purchased and saved for the city of Belfast, and will be brought back there soon. It is an important part of the Titanic package, which I hope will encourage many visitors to come to Belfast in 2012. A £25 million lottery application for the Titanic project is under way, but I strongly urge the Minister to get a grip on the issue, because at present there is no Government commitment whatever to core funding for that project or indeed for any of the main signature projects that are part of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s remit. That needs to be grasped, because we have a tremendous opportunity before us. Cities such as Cork and New York are developing strategies to capitalise on the Titanic anniversary, but Belfast should be synonymous with it: it should be the place that people will not leave out of their Titanic itinerary. It has to be marketed, and that needs investment. I appeal to the Minister to consider that very strongly.