To ask the Minister for the Economy (i) to detail the steps his Department is taking, and the funding being allocated, to create or encourage the development of affordable visitor attractions on the north coast; and (ii) for his assessment of how the loss of established tourism attractions such as Barry's, Waterworld and the Dunluce Centre is affecting tourism in this area.

(i) to detail the steps his Department is taking, and the funding being allocated, to create or encourage the development of affordable visitor attractions on the north coast.

In August 2020, Tourism NI launched a new Experience Development Programme capital funding scheme, as part of the Tourism Recovery Action Plan, to develop new and enhance demand generating experiences to support tourism recovery and growth. The programme focussed on attractions and other experience providers.

Financial assistance was available to support tourism providers in creating experiences that reflect the ‘Embrace A Giant Spirit’ brand and stimulate demand for local tourism. Several projects in the East Londonderry Constituency/North Coast were successful, including Broighter Gold and Alive Adventures, receiving collectively over £500k of financial assistance.

In addition, as part of a Website Development Programme that Tourism NI also launched in 2020, several projects in the East Londonderry Constituency/North Coast were successful in receiving collectively over £40k of financial assistance. The approved projects included Causeway Coast Foodie Tours and Aquaholics.

The tables below sets out the tourism operators located in the East Derry Constituency/North Coast for which Tourism NI has provided funding to create or encourage the development of visitor attractions and experiences in the last 18 months.

Tourism NI recently launched further phases of the Experience Development Programme and the Website Development Programme. These were open call schemes which again focussed on developing experiences and websites for attractions and other experiences providers.

Both programmes have received an unprecedented volume of applications including a number from the East Londonderry Constituency/North Coast. Applications to these programmes are currently being assessed, with awards to made as soon as the appraisal process has been completed. Successful projects will commence delivery in early 2022.

(ii) for his assessment of how the loss of established tourism attractions such as Barry's, Waterworld and the Dunluce Centre is affecting tourism in this area.

The historic role played by Barry’s amusements, Waterworld and the Dunluce Centre in supporting the visitor economy in the area is clearly recognised. Each of these attractions would be regarded as very much weighted to the domestic audience and day-tripper market. ‘Day tripper’ value, although hard to measure, is a significant part of domestic tourism.

Increasing the number and length of overnight stays is a key element of achieving a sustainable visitor economy in the area. Whilst efforts will be made to convert day trips to overnight stays, attraction operators have a responsibility to enhance and improve the quality of their offering by creating visitor experiences that are of high quality, immersive and primarily of international appeal.

Tourism NI operates the Visitor Experience Quality Grading Scheme which is open to tourism businesses that offer a quality visitor experience to tourists. This is a framework that ensures quality standards. There are many graded tourist attractions and experiences that have been developed on the North Coast with the great potential of more to come.

Tourism NI works very closely with East Londonderry Constituency/North Coast stakeholders and tourism operators in the area who offer visitor experiences in the immediate and wider area. These activities include surfing, boat trips, tours, food and drink experiences, world class golf courses and heritage attractions and so on.

Tourism NI will continue to work closely with key stakeholders in the area to ensure that the North Coast continues to provide a high quality and sustainable tourism and leisure offering. This includes working with Causeway Coast & Glens Council on their £72m Growth Deal, to help develop and test strategic, tourism related projects that will attract further international visitors to the area.

I also understand that Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council is currently engaged in a bid process for the sale of the Dunluce Centre Leisure and Tourism Facility in Portrush for the purposes of tourism and recreation. Tourism NI officials will input to this process.

More broadly, the area has a good range of attractions and activities to welcome out of state visitors throughout the year. Initiatives which seek to support growth of overnight, out of state visitors should focus on:

Improving the vibrancy of towns and villages such as Portrush;

Facilitating a greater range of market led visitor experiences that are unique and reflective of the destination;

Rebalance the tourism accommodation offering towards accommodation that is attractive to out of state visitors;

Deliver a quality visitor experience across all visitor touchpoints;

Continue to develop market led visitor experience and products.