visit belfast news

New £100m tourism project will tell the stories of Belfast

• Friday 17 December 2021 at 6:21pm

A new £100 million tourism attraction is to be created in the heart of Belfast city centre, it has been announced.

The Belfast Stories development is one of seven tourism and regeneration projects included in the Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD), which was unveiled this week.

Due to open in 2028, the new visitor attraction will be housed in the art deco former Bank of Ireland building on Royal Avenue, which has been acquired by Belfast City Council for the project, along with the surrounding 4,000 sq m site.

The council said the listed building will be restored and the space around it developed as part of the regeneration project that will tell the stories of Belfast through a new interactive visitor experience.

It will also include a new state-of-the-art multi-screen cultural film centre and public spaces for events and ongoing programming.

Lord Mayor of Belfast Kate Nicholl said the announcement marked a "significant moment" for the city and its future.

"This is hugely exciting news for the city and I think today's announcement marks a significant moment in our progress as a city, and the journey we have been on for the last number of years to tell the story of Belfast on a global stage," she said.

"Belfast Stories will reflect the unique spirit of our city through a variety of media and immersive experiences.

"It will drive culture-led regeneration across the city, giving us the opportunity to put the people of Belfast and their stories at its heart.

"It's an investment, not just in monetary terms, but in our people and the generations to come, and an important investment in our heritage and in our future.

"This is a hugely positive news story for the city and will reap benefits not just for our tourism sector, but in the creation of new jobs and regenerating communities.

"The project is not just about the city centre, however - we will also be connecting it to the development of neighbourhood tourism."

Options for renewable energy solutions for the project, including the feasibility of geothermal energy sources, are currently being explored.

A green rooftop urban park is also being considered as part of the early project plans, offering panoramic views across the city.

Richard Williams, chief executive of Northern Ireland Screen, said: "The creativity on these shores cannot be overstated; we are a veritable powerhouse, and the Belfast Stories project will keep that momentum going in the right direction."

Kathryn Thomson, chair of Visit Belfast, added: "This investment in our tourism offering will shine another positive light on Belfast as an exciting visitor destination.

"As well as having the potential to transform another area of Belfast, it will have a positive ripple effect across the entire region and the island as a whole, supporting tourism recovery and acting as a catalyst for inclusive growth through the creation of new and better jobs."

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This massive £340 million train station is coming to Belfast later this year

Belfast Grand Central will be the biggest transport hub in Northern Ireland

The people of Belfast are finally getting what we’ve all been dreaming of – investment into their railways.

The city’s brand new Grand Central Station, which will become the biggest transport hub on the island of Ireland when it opens, is in its final stages of being built. It’s expected that it could see as many as 20 million passengers pass through it annually, and it will act as ‘the main transport gateway to Belfast’, according to developers.

As well as connecting Belfast to the rest of Northern Ireland, the station will offer cross-border services into the Republic of Ireland, including a train to Dublin. 

As if creating a huge railway/bus hub wasn’t enough, plans are also being realised to create a ‘new exciting public realm space’ right outside Grand Central’s doors. This area will have ‘a strong emphasis on arts and culture for everyone to enjoy’ and open up around 1.3 million square feet of property available to be turned into offices, homes, or public leisure space. 

The bulk of the station is set to open for operation this autumn, with final construction works on the surrounding areas, including adding bike lanes and improving accessibility, being ready sometime next year.

Here’s what Belfast Grand Central station could look like when it’s completed:

Pretty swish, eh? Enjoy your brand-new fancy rail station, Belfast!

Public transport in the UK

Love it or hate it, we all use public transport pretty much daily. That’s why we at Time Out keep up to date with what’s going on in the world of UK transport. For example,   these are the British cities doing public transport best , Liverpool might be getting a brand-new high-speed railway link , and this city is   officially the UK’s electric bus capital . And of course, we’ve got a regularly updated   guide to train strikes across the country . 

Did you see that   one of the UK’s most legendary nightclubs is closing for good ?

Plus:  Where was Netflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’ filmed? All the filming locations from the hit drama .

Stay in the loop:  sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter  for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.

• Annie McNamee Contributor, Time Out London and UK

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Green is the new black for the tourism industry

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Visit Belfast is the official destination marketing organisation for the Belfast city. We are a public-private sector partnership that represents over 450 tourism businesses, operators and services, dedicated to promoting Belfast as a tourist destination.

Funded and supported by Belfast City Council, Tourism Northern Ireland (Tourism NI), Tourism Ireland, Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, Ards and North Down Borough Council, strategic and corporate partners Translink, Belfast One, Diageo Northern Ireland, Value Cabs, ICC Belfast, Titanic Belfast, Hastings Hotels and Victoria Square, Visit Belfast is a public-private sector partnership that represents over 450 tourism businesses, operators and services.

As the city region’s Destination Marketing Management Organisation (DMMO), our core purpose is:

“To create and service visitors for Belfast and Northern Ireland in order to generate economic benefit and inclusive growth, creating jobs and prosperity for the city region, enabling Belfast to become a more sustainable place to visit, meet and live in.”

Our strategic aims are to:

• Increase overnight leisure and business tourists;
• Increase day trips;
• Increase the length of overnight trips to Belfast;
• Increase visitor expenditure; and
• Raise visitor satisfaction levels.

Visit Belfast continues to drive visitor numbers and visitor spend focussing its activities in the areas that offer the biggest market opportunities; namely short-breaks, business tourism, day-trips and cruise arrivals.  We also manage three gateway visitor information centres – in Belfast city centre and at the two airports; aimed at dispersing the benefits of a thriving tourism economy across the city and wider city region.

Visit Belfast represents more than 500 tourism businesses and services across the industry including accommodation providers, attractions, conference venues and services, tour operators, transport providers, entertainment venues, restaurants and cafes, pubs and clubs and event organisers; and provides an extensive range of marketing platforms for tourism businesses to promote their products and services to travel trade and consumers.

In marketing Belfast as a world class destination, we’re keen to work with businesses that reflect the best of what the city has to offer potential visitors.

If your business offers a product or service that is relevant to the tourism industry, consider a partnership with Visit Belfast.

As a partner of Visit Belfast you can further enhance your product or service by buying into various targeted platforms. Find out more about enhancement.

Read the latest press releases from Visit Belfast and industry partners.

Meet the team and get in touch. For general enquiries, email [email protected] or phone 028 9023 9026.

Visit Belfast is governed by a board of directors comprising councillors from Belfast City Council and representatives from the private sector.

Find out how Visit Belfast is committed to contributing to a sustainable and inclusive tourism economy