Northern Ireland Tourism Performance Overview January –March 2014

Overview Northern Ireland Tourism Performance (Jan-March 2014 v Jan-March 2013) All markets combined Tourism is continuing to grow with NI welcoming more visitors from all markets combined during Jan-March 2014 compared with Q Domestic tourism realised a strong start to 2014 (+11%) and GB and other overseas markets also grew (+4%). Growth in revenue in the first quarter of 2014 (+10%) was stronger than that seen for the previous year (+5%). The first quarter growth was well above inflation as people stayed longer and spent more (on average). NI market Following little change in domestic trips taken during 2013, strong growth was evident for the first quarter of 2014 with trips increasing by 11% (+48,000) compared with Jan-March No further figures have been published in relation to the domestic market for Jan-March 2014, however indications are that the strong growth in trips was driven by a 29% growth in domestic holiday trips and overall spend increased. ROI market ROI residents took 46,000 fewer overnight trips in NI during Q than they did in the same period in Research shows that visitors from this market had concerns about protests/disturbances and safety, potentially offsetting the positive impacts made by key events and promotions. Despite a fall in ROI trips there was a slight increase in the use of commercial accommodation by this market and ROI spend grew by one fifth. GB/Overseas Market GB and overseas visitors took 4% more trips in NI during Jan- March 2014 compared with the same period in 2013; nights and spend increased in line with the growth in trips. The increase in trips was driven by both GB visitors (+2%) and those from other overseas (+11%). Northern Ireland Tourism Performance Overview (January-March 2014) 2 Total trips11% (483,000) Total trips43% (62,000 trips) Visitors from GB/Overseas Total trips 4% (320,000 trips) Visitors from ROI Domestic Market Sources: Northern Ireland Passenger Survey (NISRA), Survey of Overseas Travellers (Fáilte Ireland) Country of Residence Survey (CSO) & Continuous Household Survey (NISRA No other figures have been published in relation to this market for Jan-March 2014 Total nights33% (195,000 nights) Total spend20% (£14.5m) GB trips 2% (244,000 trips) Other overseas 11% (77,000 trips)

1) All Markets Combined (GB, Other Overseas, ROI & NI) Figures for the first three months of 2014 show continued growth in tourism Total trips taken in NI from all markets combined increased by 2% to 865,000 compared with the same period in 2013 Growth in revenue in the first quarter of 2014 (+10%) was stronger than that seen for the previous year (+5%). The first quarter growth was well above inflation as people stayed longer and spent more (on average), possibly reflecting the significant investment in tourism infrastructure in NI, giving visitors more to see and do and opportunities to spend The growth in trips was driven by domestic trips (+11%): GB and overseas trips also increased (+4%) compared with Jan-March 2013 Following a difficult final quarter to 2013 from a security perspective, ROI trips fell during Jan-March Research shows that ROI residents had significant concerns about protests/disturbances and safety, acting as a barrier to visiting and potentially offsetting the positive impacts made by key promotions/events The rise in overall trips in 2014 was driven mainly by holiday trips which increased by 20%, largely due to strong growth in domestic holidays (+29%) as well as those from GB (+15%) and other overseas (+12%) Reflecting the growth in overall trips, accommodation statistics for the first quarter of 2014 show increases in the number of hotel rooms and bed-spaces sold. Latest figures (Jan-June 2014) show this growth has continued, following a positive Easter and likely helped by a successful Giro d’Italia Grande Partenza Findings from NITB’s June 2014 Tourism Industry Barometer show that the first six months of 2014 was strong for hotels and attractions, while B&Bs found this period more challenging. Optimism was running high for the second half of 2014 amongst most sectors Jan-Mar 2013 Jan-Mar 2014 % Change Total trips (000) % Total nights(000)2,6562,633-1% Total spend (£m) % Trips by market (000) GB % Other overseas % Total GB/Overseas % ROI % Total visitors from outside NI % NI % Total % Trips by reason for visit (000) Holiday % Visiting friends/relatives (VFR) % Business % Other % Northern Ireland Tourism Performance Overview (January-March 2014) 3 Sources: Northern Ireland Passenger Survey (NISRA), Survey of Overseas Travellers (Fáilte Ireland) Country of Residence Survey (CSO) & Continuous Household Survey (NISRA) Figures may not add up to totals throughout due to rounding. Percentage and percentage point changes throughout are based on unrounded figures. GB refers to Great Britain, ROI refers to Republic of Ireland and NI refers to Northern Ireland. NISRA refers to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the CSO refers to the Central Statistics Office. Figures should be treated with some caution due to relatively small sample sizes.

2) Domestic Overnight Trips to (NI to NI) Following little change in domestic trips during 2013, strong growth was evident for the first quarter of 2014 with trips increasing by 11% (+48,000) compared with Jan-March 2013 No further figures have been published in relation to the domestic market for Jan-March 2014, however indications are that the strong growth in trips was driven by a 29% growth in domestic holiday trips and overall spend increased Jan-Mar 2013 Jan-Mar 2014 % Change Total trips (000) % Northern Ireland Tourism Performance Overview (January-March 2014) 5 Source: Continuous Household Survey (NISRA) Competitor Performance The ROI, like NI, experienced increases in total domestic trips (and domestic holiday trips) in the first three months of 2014, realising growth of 8.5% and 4% respectively GB domestic tourism performance was less positive, with total domestic trips and holiday trips seeing falls of 10% and 4.5% respectively compared with Jan-March 2013 Jan-May 2014 GB domestic tourism results have been released which show an improvement on Q1 figures, resulting in a reduction in the declines for total GB domestic trips and growth for domestic holiday trips compared with Jan-May 2013 Figures should be treated with some caution due to relatively small sample sizes.

3) ROI Residents’ Overnight Trips to NI In the first quarter of 2014 ROI overnight trips to NI fell by 46,000 (-43%) compared with Jan-March 2013 The final quarter of 2013 was difficult from a security perspective and there was a lot of publicity around incidents in Victoria Square and the Cathedral Quarter. Research shows that ROI residents had significant concerns about protests/disturbances and safety, acting as a barrier to visiting and potentially offsetting the positive impacts made by key promotions/events While ROI holidays fell, the greatest decline was in trips to visit friends and/or relatives, perhaps choosing to invite them to go South instead Despite a fall in ROI trips there was a slight increase in the use of commercial accommodation by this market and ROI spend grew by one fifth It is worth noting that overall trends are still positive for the ROI market and whilst we are currently experiencing a decline, we are still ahead of 2011 performance results and ahead of the current Programme for Government targets Northern Ireland Tourism Performance Overview (January-March 2014) 5 Sources: Country Residence Survey (CSO) Figures should be treated with some caution due to relatively small sample sizes. Competitor Performance ROI residents took 5% fewer overseas trips during Jan- March 2014 compared with Q and, as with the decline in ROI trips to NI, the downturn in ROI overseas trips was largely due to a reduction in trips to visit friends/relatives Increases were e evident for ROI overseas holiday trips (+3.5% on Q1 2013) Jan-Mar 2013 Jan-Mar 2014 % Change Total trips (000) % Total nights (000) % Total spend (£m) % Trips by reason for visit (000) Holiday % Visiting friends/relatives (VFR) % Business64-36% Other914+55%

4) GB & Overseas Visitors to NI Jan-Mar 2013 Jan-Mar 2014 % Change Total GB/other overseas (000) % GB trips (000) % Other overseas trips (000) % GB/overseas nights (000)1,5801,681+6% GB/overseas spend (£m)7579+6% Northern Ireland Tourism Performance Overview (January-March 2014) 6 Sources: Northern Ireland Passenger Survey (NISRA), Survey of Overseas Travellers (Fáilte Ireland) Country of Residence Survey (CSO) Figures should be treated with some caution due to relatively small sample sizes. GB and overseas visitors took 4% more trips in NI during Jan-March 2014 compared with the same period in 2013; nights and spend increased in line with the growth in trips The increase in trips was driven by both GB visitors (+2%) and those from overseas (+11%) In terms of sectoral performance the GB growth can be attributed to increases in holiday (+15%) and business (+11%) trips while growth was evident across all sectors for other overseas trips GB and overseas visitors spent over 100,000 more nights in NI in the first quarter of 2014 v Q (+6%) and associated spend during this period increased by £4 million (+6%) as they stayed longer and spent more per trip on average GB Trips by Reason for Trip (000) Holiday % Visiting friends/relatives % Business % Other53-32% Other Overseas Trips by Reason for Trip (000) Holiday % Visiting friends/relatives % Business1213+7% Other22+6% Competitor Performance In terms of overseas trips both the ROI and UK experienced a stronger start to the year than seen in NI (+7% for GB and overseas trips to ROI, +4% for NI and +10% for overseas trips to the UK) ROI saw an 11.5% increase in visitors from GB compared with the 2% evident for NI (in 2013 the reverse was true); however growth for other overseas visitors was stronger for NI (+11% v +4% for ROI) The 13% growth in holiday trips to NI is almost double that seen for ROI Jan-June 2014 ROI figures are an improvement on the Q figures which could bode well for NI

5) Hotel Performance During Jan-March 2014 hotel room occupancy increased by 4 percentage points while bed-space occupancy experienced an increase of 1 percentage point compared with Jan-March 2013 Hotel capacity increased during this period. At the end of March 2014 there were 137 hotels operating with 7,859 rooms and 17,572 bed-spaces, an increase of 2% on both rooms and bed-spaces available compared with end of March 2013 The number of rooms sold during Q increased by 9% to 383,900 and represents the highest recorded for the period Jan-March since records began (previous highest was Jan-Mar 2012). There were an additional 31,300 rooms sold compared to Jan-March 2013 Bed-spaces sold during Q recorded an increase of 4%, to 577,100 and represents the highest recorded for the period Jan-March since records began (previous highest was Jan-March 2012). There were an additional 22,300 bed- spaces sold compared to Jan-Mar 2013 Room Occupancy Jan-Mar 2014 Bed-space Occupancy Jan-Mar 2014 pps = percentage points +4pps on Jan-Mar pp on Jan-Mar 2013 Rooms Sold Bedspaces Sold 383, ,100 Up 9% on Jan-Mar 2013 Up 4% on Jan-Mar 2013 Northern Ireland Tourism Performance Overview (January-March 2014) 8 54% 36%

6) Guest House, Guest Accommodation and B&B Performance During Jan-March 2014 room and bed- space occupancy for guesthouses, guest accommodation and B&Bs experienced declines compared to Q At the end of March there were 705 guesthouses, guest accommodation and B&B establishments (excluding campus) operating with 3,040 rooms and bed-spaces available 6,950 bed- spaces available. This represents no change on both rooms and bed-spaces available compared with end of March 2013 Room Occupancy Jan-Mar 2014 Bed-space Occupancy Jan-Mar 2014 pps = percentage points -5pps on Jan- Mar 2013 Rooms Sold Bedspaces Sold 46,200 61,200 Down 17% on Jan-Mar 2013 Down 31% on Jan-Mar 2013 Rooms sold in guesthouses, guest accommodation and B&Bs decreased by 17% during Jan-March 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, while bed-spaces sold declined by 31%. There were slightly less visitors during this period and they stayed fewer nights Northern Ireland Tourism Performance Overview (January-March 2014) 9 16% 9%

Contact: Research Department Northern Ireland Tourist Board St. Anne’s Court 59 North Street Belfast BT1 1NB Tel: