Mr. William O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many tourists from the Republic of Ireland visited the north during 1991 and 1992; what plans his Department has to increase the numbers of tourists from both Britain and the Republic of Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AtkinsA total of 380,000 tourists from the Republic of Ireland visited Northern Ireland in 1991 and 352,000 in 1992. A major drive to increase visitors from Britain and the Republic of Ireland was launched in March with the Northern Ireland tourist board's biggest ever television advertising campaign, "The Northern Ireland you'll never know unless you go", at a cost of £1 million. This has been very well received and is backed up strongly by other marketing activity.
Mr. William O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effect of the numbers of tourists from the United States of America visiting Northern Ireland since the new operation of a direct, scheduled service between New York and Belfast; what steps his Department is now taking to market Northern Ireland in the United States of America; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AtkinsThe new direct scheduled air service between Belfast and New York came into operation on256W 3 June 1993 and it is too early for meaningful statistical information to have been collected on its effect on the number of tourists visiting Northern Ireland., The Northern Ireland tourist board continues, through its New York office, to participate in a wide range of marketing activities aimed at attracting American visitors, including selective advertising campaigns, participation in consumer and trade exhibitions, development of special interest tour operators and joint marketing initiatives in liaison with Bord Failte, the tourist authority for the Republic of Ireland.
Mr. William O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what applications his Department has received from companies wishing to operate a direct scheduled air service between Northern Ireland and Germany; what studies his Department has made of the benefits to the north's tourist industry which the operation of this and other direct scheduled services might have; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AtkinsNo application has been brought to my attention for a direct scheduled air service between Northern Ireland and Germany. Tourism would undoubtedly benefit from a direct scheduled service link with a key tourism market like Germany.
Mr. William O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of tourism in Northern Ireland in 1992–93 came from(a) domestic and (b) overseas sources; and how many of that total were categorised as (i) short stay and (ii) long stay.
§ Mr. AtkinsIn the calendar year 1992, domestic sources formed 32 per cent. of total tourism in Northern Ireland of which 63 per cent. were categorised as short stay and 37 per cent. as long stay. Overseas sources for 1992 formed 68 per cent. of the visitor total, of which 48 per cent. were categorised as short stay and 52 per cent. as long stay visitors.