THE first dedicated cruise terminal on the island of Ireland has opened at Belfast Harbour, in a bid to drive sales in a growing market.
The new £500,000 quayside facility opened its doors yesterday and now includes a Visitor Information Centre, part funded by Tourism NI and managed by Visit Belfast.
The site also features enhanced space to allow for coaches, shuttle buses and taxis to easily transfer cruise passengers out of the port, as well as a berth, which has been dredged to accommodate newer and larger cruise ships.
Cruise tourism in Belfast is a lucrative market, with the port set to welcome a record 148 calls in 2019 from 35 different companies. In the past three years
there has been a colossal 82 per cent increase in the number of annual calls and the port is now the third most popular destination in the UK and Ireland for one-day cruise ship calls after Dublin and Orkney.
Joe O’Neill, Belfast Harbour’s CEO believes the new terminal will help to attract even more visitors to the city and enhance its global reputation as a cruise destination.
“Cruise calls to Belfast are now up to 148 calls in 2019, an increase of 31 per cent on last year and this investment in a terminal facility will enable us to offer the anticipated 285,000 cruise visitors a positive welcome and first impression of the region," he said.
"The new terminal will provide the first dedicated facilities for cruise ships on the island, allowing visitors to quickly connect to Belfast city centre or join one of the many organised excursions to a wide range of visitor attractions including the Giant’s Causeway, Hillsborough Castle, Mount Stewart and Titanic Belfast."
As part of the latest investment Belfast Harbour has also purchased new gangways and luggage scanners to help market the city as an embarkation port - allowing tourists to leave on a cruise directly from Belfast.
"Depending on the level of demand locally, this opens up the exciting opportunity for local consumers to join cruises directly from Belfast instead of flying to Southampton or other regional ports," Mr O'Neill said
"Cruise & Maritime has already scheduled a number of departures from Belfast for next summer including Norwegian Fjord and British Isles itineraries. In line with our sustainability ambitions we have also installed wind powered quay lighting for the site and a ‘smart flower’ which will generate solar electricity for the terminal building.”
John McGrillen, CEO Tourism Northern Ireland outlined the growing importance of cruise tourism to the local economy.
“Cruise ship visitors contribute footfall to our visitor attractions and provide an opportunity to showcase Northern Ireland to international visitors, many of whom are here for the first time. Allowing cruise passengers to sample Northern Ireland also provides an effective strategy to encourage and generate repeat visits. "
“Our investment in this gateway information centre is part of our growth framework which will support our overall ambition to double the value of tourism to Northern Ireland by 2030," he said.
Gerry Lennon, chief executive of Visit Belfast, which combined with Belfast Harbour makes up marketing body, Cruise Belfast, added:
“Globally, cruise tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in tourism. From a standing start of just two ships in the late Nineties, we are now welcoming 285,000 cruise visitors to our shores. This has been down to the sales and marketing efforts of Cruise Belfast and the significant investments in our tourism offering.
“This means that we can fully showcase the wealth of experiences on offer and enable cruise visitors to make the most of their time in Belfast and Northern Ireland.”
