Game of lasting legacy
MARTIN FULLARD SITS DOWN WITH GERRY LENNON , CEO OF VISIT BELFAST , TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CITY ’ S ASPIRATIONS IN LEGACY AND SOCIAL BENEFIT
T he world changes at pace , but some places change quicker than others , and if one were to draw up a list , it ’ s a safe bet that Belfast would be top . The signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 will be remembered as one of the most important peace brokerages in history , ending 40 years of Troubles in Northern Ireland , much covered by the media across the world .
Since that time , Belfast has evolved into a thriving city , rich in culture , sport , business and , of course , events .
The city is now one of the UK ’ s most popular conference destinations , and its reputation on the international stage gets stronger by the year .
Gerry Lennon was the man who helped launch Visit Belfast in 2000 , as Northern Ireland entered a new chapter in its history . Now , 22 years later , Lennon is still at helm and ready to take Belfast into yet another era , one centred on social benefit and legacy , and conferences , he says , are the best way forwards .
Martin Fullard : Is Belfast fully open for business ? Gerry Lennon : We have gone from zero to a million miles per hour in such a short space of time . 2021 was probably a bit of a false start for us , as was the case for so many destinations . But now in 2022 we have just completed a series of community-based marketing workshops for tourism initiatives .
One of our big messages is that 2022 signals the start of the city ’ s tourism recovery and we ’ re really confident that within a few years tourism will return to the record levels we saw in 2019 . 2022 is already a record year for our business events and cruise tourism with more than 80 conferences and 32,000 delegates expected , which is 25 % more than 2019 . and 300,000 cruise visitors , that ’ s about 15 % growth from 2019 , too .
There ’ s definitely a trend towards people wanting to explore their own neighbourhoods , and combining business and leisure . Our core growth markets in Belfast are overnight stays from Great Britain , the Republic of
“ The economic , social and cultural face of Belfast has transformed the city into the international destination it is today . This reimagining has been attributable in large measure to our dynamic tourism and events industry ”
Left : Gerry Lennon
Ireland , and elsewhere from Northern Ireland .
We ’ re sitting at around 80 % occupancy in the hotels since April , with 85 % year-to-date on room sales compared to 2019 .
MF : Tell us about venues and attractions ; is there anything new on the horizon ? GL : I think one of Belfast ’ s strengths is the fact that it is a small , compact city , but we have that ‘ big city ’ feel about it . We have more than 60 venues that meet all budgets and all needs . The ICC Belfast is a state-of-the-art , world class and venue and plays host to many of the largest events that come to city .
Titanic Belfast also adds an international appeal and is a key visitor attraction and more bespoke event space . We go to other venues like Crumlin Road Gaol , a 19th Century Gaol , and Hillsborough Castle , the Queen ’ s official residence in Northern
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