Throughout the past year the Council has continued to support and encourage tourism development within Lisburn City. At a time when the Foot and Mouth epidemic came about and also the tragedy of September 11, 2001, tourism development activity within Lisburn City and the province placed more emphasis on the GB and home markets for visitors, rather than markets further afield.
The continuation of publications such as ‘Be a Tourist at Home’ in the local press and also the new updated version of the ‘Guide to Good Eating’ and ‘The Discount Voucher Booklet’ illustrate this activity and enable many local and national visitors to learn about attractions and activities close to home.
Lisburn City Council has also been active in the Kingdoms of Down marketing consortium, working alongside neighbouring Councils to jointly promote the wider- area as a visitor destination. The campaign has been tailored to meet the needs of Lisburn’s growing tourism and hospitality industry.
A new Public Relations company has been taken on to create new and refreshing ideas on how to better promote this South East Ulster destination.
As in previous years, Lisburn City Council has benefited from a presence at over 20 trade and consumer exhibitions throughout the world including Toronto, Milwaukee, Chicago, Boston, Cologne, Paris and Utrecht, as well as closer to home at Dublin, London and Belfast.
During the year the Kingdoms of Down has brought a significant number of familiarisation trips of tour operators and journalists into the area, with 460 national/international travel trade buyers and journalists visiting the City of Lisburn.
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Pictured at the NI Pipe Band Championships Tommy McCarrol, The Right Worshipful The MAyor Concillor Jim Dillon and Lady Mayoress and Wilfred McFadden (President of the Co. Down section) |
The Council also successfully published a range of quality tourism promotional documents during the year including The Lisburn Tourism Main Guide, an Historic Hillsborough Walking Tour Flyer, Lisburn and Hillsborough Tourism Maps a new publication aimed at attracting visitors to the Lisburn Incentive Market.
The Welcome Host and Welcome All training courses have enabled over 80 hospitality industry representatives to improve their customer care. The Council continues to offer applied training courses for the tourism and hospitality sector.
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A day at the races always brings a crowd, especially during the Northern Ireland Festival of Racing. |
Marketing workshops targeting small business owners have proved a recent success. Lisburn’s high level of customer care and winning welcome is most prevalent within the City’s Tourist Information provision with both Hillsborough and Lisburn Tourist Information Centres being awarded the Gold Award for Welcome Host, and Hillsborough winning the ‘Best Ulster Welcome Award’ from the Northern Ireland Travel News.
The City is also famed for its quality events, which includes the high-profile N.I. Festival of Racing at Down Royal with over 11,000 visitors attending over the two day event, the Pipe Band Championships and the extremely successful Hillsborough International Oyster Festival which attracted over 7,000 people to the area in September 2001.
Other events hosted throughout the year included the Irish National Swimming Championships at the Lagan Valley LeisurePlex, Ulster Grand Prix and European Beer Festival at Hilden Brewery.
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Hillsborough Tourist Information Centre continues to win awards including 'Best Ulster Welcome 2001' |
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Members of the Japan 2001 exhibition who took part in the Hillsborough International Oyster Festival in September 2001. |
As well as these major events the Council has supported a number of other smaller but equally successful events including the Hillsborough Ploughing Championships, Dog Championship Obedience Show, and Irish Cycling Road Race Championships all of which attract a significant number of visitors to the City.
In August 2002, the Council will be launching its very own stand alone Lisburn Tourist Information Centre within the impressive surroundings of the new Lisburn Square. More services will be on offer including substantially increased retail space and an internet kiosk along with all the services offered in the past including accommodation booking, Bureau de Change, free local and national information, maps and guides, and tickets for local events.
Plans for 2002/2003 are already firmly in place to encourage a new hotel development to Lisburn City, and to develop a fully integrated visitor signage scheme by 2003/2004.
