Statement by TUV Westminster candidate Timothy Gaston:
“Northern Ireland has many unique selling points when it comes to tourism. In my own North Antrim we have the world renowned Giant’s Causeway while across Northern Ireland there are superb golf courses which have helped foster the talent of world class golfers and cultural attractions like the Twelfth need to be marketed much better.
“Northern Ireland is being held back and prevented from making the most of these uniquely Northern Ireland selling points. On the international market Ireland is sold as a single destination by the cross border body Tourism Ireland. Tourism NI is even prohibited from promoting Northern Ireland in GB, only Tourism Ireland can do so. This nonsensical constraint is hampering the growth of our tourism industry. Given the importance of the sector locally this is particularly an issue when it comes to North Antrim.
“Last year the outgoing head of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (now Tourism NI) Alan Clarke summed up the problem:
“We [Northern Ireland] are putting a third of the money in [to Tourism Ireland] and we get around 10 to 11 per cent of the holidaymakers coming to the island. So Northern Ireland is paying beyond its share”.
“TUV believes that we need to break free from the shackles of Tourism Ireland and promote Northern Ireland as destination in its own right. Sadly, DETI under DUP control has done nothing to achieve this.
“A large number of Northern Ireland visitors come from mainland UK. TUV is committed to maintaining our port and airport links to ensure that this increases, but access to our international airport must be enhanced by a direct rail link.”