Visit Belfast Celebrates 25 Years of Transforming Tourism Landscape

Visit Belfast, the city's dedicated Destination Marketing and Management Organisation (DMMO), is celebrating a quarter-century of success. Established in 1999 as the Belfast Visitor & Convention Bureau (BVCB), Visit Belfast has played a pivotal role in transforming Belfast from a city once avoided by international travellers to a thriving global tourist destination.

Over the past 25 years, Belfast has experienced unprecedented growth in tourism, attracting millions of visitors annually. The city has invested billions of pounds in infrastructure and cultural attractions, resulting in a significant boost to its economy.

Key milestones in Belfast's tourism journey include a dramatic increase in hotel capacity, a surge in overnight visitors, and the arrival of numerous cruise ships and international conferences. The city's contribution to Northern Ireland's tourism economy has more than doubled, highlighting the significant impact of Visit Belfast's work.

Congratulating Visit Belfast on its achievements over 25 years, Belfast Lord Mayor, Councillor Micky Murray, said: "Tourism powers growth and investment, enhances our outlook and drives our local economy. As a small, unique and compact city that's famed for the warmth of our welcome, Belfast packs a punch – and its success can firmly be attributed to the hard work, partnership working and sheer determination of Visit Belfast's colleagues, members, partners and stakeholders who work so closely together to seize opportunities while also navigating challenges."

Few countries worldwide have pulled off such an unprecedented tourism transformation as Belfast became one of the world's leading, most celebrated and award-winning city destinations which now attracts millions of leisure, business and cruise visitors every year. "In a quarter of a century, Belfast's international reputation has been transformed and thanks to the foresight of Belfast City Council in establishing a dedicated tourism authority for the city and region, we are proud that we can compete successfully in an international marketplace for visitors and to global industry recognition that underline the city's reputation as a great place in which to visit, live, study and invest. Congratulations to Visit Belfast – the heart of Team Belfast – for its stellar contribution to the city's success over 25 years," the Lord Mayor added.

John McGrillen, Chief Executive, Tourism Northern Ireland, said: "Congratulations to Visit Belfast and thank you for your support in attracting visitors to the Belfast region and beyond over the past 25 years. Promoting Belfast as an authentic and vibrant city destination has been, and will continue to be, essential to the future growth of tourism across the region."

In its new strategy for the Belfast City Region, New Horizons, Visit Belfast plans to accelerate this growth further and aims to generate £424m for the city economy as part of its tourism growth blueprint for 2024-2027.

Visit Belfast Chair, Marie-Therese McGivern, said: "Visit Belfast continues to promote Belfast as an exciting city break, conference, cruise and day trip destination. Our activity is focused on driving visitor demand and delivering a mix of customers balanced throughout the week and throughout the year.

"Our ambitious strategy for the three years ahead, New Horizons, will strengthen and elevate the appeal of the city's vibrant neighbourhoods to drive new growth and fresh exploration while we will continue to lead and champion sustainability across the industry, driving impact socially and economically."

Marking the milestone, Visit Belfast Chief Executive Gerry Lennon said: "Since our foundation in 1999, we've seen the city continue to flourish with new attractions, new experiences, new hotels and an ever-increasing list of reasons to visit.

"Visit Belfast continues to focus on promoting the city as a compelling and exciting business, leisure and cruise destination and remains focused on driving sustainable growth and visitor spend and we remain confident in our ability to deliver through our strategic growth plans and with our partners' support."