European experts share cultural tourism lessons with Belfast

Some of Europe’s top experts in tourism have arrived in Belfast to help the Belfast City Council enhance its bid to be become European Capital of Culture 2008.

Experiences in Glasgow, Belgium, Spain, The Netherlands and elsewhere across Europe have been brought into focus by Belfast City Council (BCC), which is currently leading the development of a cultural tourism strategy for the City, and the bid for European Capital of Culture 2008.

On Friday January 25, a number of Europe's top experts in the field addressed a number of representatives from key cultural agencies in the city at a seminar hosted in W5, the educational complex in Belfast’s Odyssey Arena.

Speakers included Bob Palmer, who was Director General of Brussels 2000, the organization which administered that city's term as Cultural Capital of Europe; Greg Richards, lecturer in leisure studies at the University of Tilburg, who specialises in looking at current trends and issues in cultural tourism across Europe and Eddie Friel, former Chief Executive of the Greater Glasgow Tourist Board, who shared the experience of Glasgow during and after its period as European Cultural Capital in 1990.

In addition a case study of Bilbao, which has recently emerged as a major tourist destination, was presented by Constanza Erkoreka, from the Executive Council of Biscay.

Over the past few months, BCC has undertaken wide-ranging consultation with a large variety of agencies and individuals from the tourism and arts/culture sector in order to formulate a strategy drive that will increase numbers of tourists and create a more robust industry.

Undertaking such a consultation process is “vital to underpinning the development and promotion of both culture and tourism in the longer term” for Belfast and Northern Ireland a spokesman for the BCC said.

This consultation process came to a conclusion earlier this week with a one-day workshop, which brought together representatives from the cultural marketing and tourism trades, as well as venues, promoters, sport, events, festivals and support activities. (AMcE)