Mentoring Programme 'Invaluable' For NI Tourism Businesses

A total of 45 tourism businesses across Northern Ireland have benefitted from an innovative mentoring project, which aims to ensure long-term sustainability.

Tourism NI's Kickstart programme provided almost 630 mentoring days in four main areas: financial and business model restructuring; digital innovation; recruitment; and talent development and sustainability.

First launched in October 2021, the programme provides businesses with free access to independent expert advice and support, to drive innovation, sustainability and competitiveness amongst tourism businesses as the industry worked to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Tourism NI, which invested £890,000 in the second phase of the programme, participating businesses collectively attract more than three million visitors per year and employ 4,000 full-time staff.

Eimear Callaghan, Head of Experience & Industry Development at Tourism NI, said: "Tourism NI's Kickstart Programme has provided tangible expert support to more than 40 businesses this year, focusing on some of the many challenges facing the sector including operational effectiveness and the pressing need to be more sustainable.

"This support will enable Northern Ireland businesses to compete more effectively and continue their recovery in what continues to be a very challenging operating environment."

Belinda Hunter, Operations and Visitor Experience Officer at The Linen Hall Library, which took part in the programme, described the support provided by Kickstart as "invaluable".

"The marketing training was eye opening as we didn't realise until pointed out that we already have most of the right things in place being a library, museum and archive with events to share knowledge, we just need to let people know what we are doing," she said.

"The carbon footprint calculation and resource audit with SDS is a fantastic resource as it gives us a path for what we need to do to move towards net zero and grants for funding which will enable us to implement what is needed.

"As we are a charity with limited funds the Kickstart project was invaluable to us."