Council Launches Best Small Visitor Attraction Competition

Belfast City Council has teamed up with George Best Belfast City Airport, Tourism NI and the other ten Councils in the province to launch a competition to celebrate the region's lesser known attractions and experiences. 

The winner of 'Northern Ireland's Best Small Visitor Attraction' will receive £30,000 of free marketing support and brand visibility at the airport.

The competition is open to visitor attractions and experiences across Northern Ireland that have an annual footfall of less than 100,000. The prize will include £20,000 of branding on site at Belfast City Airport which welcomes approximately 2.6m passengers each year, and £10,000 of online support through the airport's digital channels.

To take part in the competition, attractions should submit their entries via email to Naomi@lighthouseni.com by Friday 1st March 2019, with the relevant Council then selecting a shortlist of three attractions to progress to the next stage of the competition.

The chosen attractions will then feature on the airport's Facebook page, with the most popular from each council progressing to the final which will see a judging panel visit, experience and score each of the attractions. 

Councillor Deirdre Hargey, Lord Mayor of Belfast City Council, said: "Belfast City Council is thrilled to be involved with this initiative.

"There are so many fantastic smaller attractions – not just in Belfast, but across the entire region - which capture the imagination of visitors in extremely creative ways. 

"Thanks to Belfast City Airport and Tourism NI, and the exposure generated by this competition, these attractions and experiences will receive the attention of new eyes. With such a great prize up for grabs, I expect to see lots of entries as this provides a fantastic platform to have tourism initiatives celebrated and showcased." 

Katy Best, Commercial Director at Belfast City Airport, commented: "In 2017 we ran a hugely successful competition with Food NI to launch the search for Northern Ireland's Best Food or Drink Product. County Armagh's Long Meadow Cider won the title and benefited hugely from significant presence in the airport and on our digital channels. 

"The smaller visitor attractions and experiences are hugely important to the overall tourism industry here in Northern Ireland and that is why they were chosen as the focus of this year's campaign. The competition gives these attractions a chance to shine and to boost their visibility amongst a huge audience of potential local and overseas visitors. 

"With 2.6m passengers using the airport each year, this is a perfect platform to promote these attractions across our extensive range of advertising formats that target a variety of demographics including both inbound and outbound passengers. 

"We are really pleased to be working with Tourism NI and all eleven local Councils to raise the profile of some of Northern Ireland's smaller and lesser known attractions and would encourage all establishments with a tourism offering and an annual footfall of less than 100,000 to consider entering." 

The £20,000 of free advertising on offer at the airport will be on a number of formats within the terminal, while the £10,000 of digital support will include activities such as email solus campaigns and social media take overs.

Tourism NI's Chief Executive, John McGrillen, said: "We are thrilled to have partnered with Belfast City Airport for what I'm sure will be a very successful initiative.

"This is a superb opportunity for the smaller attractions in Northern Ireland that most likely don't have extensive marketing budgets.

"Our focus is on encouraging visitors to extend their stay in the region, and this competition should raise awareness of the huge choice of attractions and experiences visitors have when they arrive in Northern Ireland.

"£30,000 of advertising at Belfast City Airport will have a significant impact for the winning attraction and I would encourage all attractions with an annual footfall of less than 100,000 to apply."