New Marketing Campaign Launches To Boost Profile Of The City

Belfast has unveiled a major new £250,000 festive marketing campaign to boost the profile of the city and promote its unique and distinctive retail, hospitality and entertainment scenes to visitors across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the run-up to Christmas.

The new 'Famously Festive' campaign, which will be rolled out across TV, radio, press, digital and PR channels for the next six weeks, was developed in partnership with Belfast`s key agencies – Belfast Visitor & Convention Bureau, which markets the city locally and internationally, and Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, responsible for promoting local business interests. This is the fifth year of the partnership.

The target-driven campaign is backed by the Department for Social Development and, for the first time, Translink, which will be promoting a wide range of special offers to encourage millions of potential visitors – from Cork to Coleraine – to travel by bus, coach or rail.

Victoria Square and CastleCourt shopping centres, together with Belfast`s newest visitor attraction and the world`s largest Titanic experience, Titanic Belfast, have weighed in to support this year`s Christmas campaign, which is designed to generate additional overnight visitors, and to maximise day trips and spend.

Car drivers are also being encouraged to visit Belfast ahead of Christmas and over the New Year following the announcement of new road improvements and the suspension of key road work activity with special parking offers and a greater promotion of the established 'park and ride' facilities located around the city access has never been better.

Lord Mayor of Belfast, Gavin Robinson, said: "Christmas is an important time of year for Belfast and for all those retailers, restaurants, hotels and visitor attractions which make us unique.

"These businesses contribute greatly to the city`s distinctiveness and vitality and this is why Belfast`s marketing campaign, developed by BVCB in collaboration with industry partners is designed to harness that distinctiveness and provide potential visitors with compelling reasons to come to Belfast to visit, shop and stay."

(CD/GK)