Travel News Nov/Dec 2022 STILL NO HELP FOR NI TRAVEL INDUSTRY
ALMOST a year on from the lifting of all Northern Ireland’s travel restrictions we are finally seeing the long-awaited post- pandemic travel rebound. According to a recent survey, worldwide travel and tourism revenues are forecast to reach £630 billion by the this year, reflecting an impressive 45-percent increase in the figures for 2021 and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts that this growth will continue in 2023.
However, while travel has once
again taken off, travel agents are still struggling to recover from the terrible financial strain of Covid. Coupled with the new cost of living crisis, the travel industry are now dealing with even more “heartache”. Damian Murphy, Chair of the Association of Northern Ireland Travel Agents (ANITA) says that while more and more people are coming back to travel, the industry is still struggling due to lack of financial support. “Unfortunately we have had
a total lack of progress since February primarily because our
Executive aren’t currently sitting. We have spoke to several MLAs and indeed two government ministers and while all are supportive, they are pretty much saying nothing can be decided on until the Executive is sitting again. “The pandemic is now hopefully behind us but of course we now have the spike in our cost of living among other problems to deal with, meaning further financial heartache for our sector. “I think we have to accept that
any remaining hope we had for covid support is now gone, but there are other ways the Executive can help. We would like to see further support on rates relief for all High Street premises as well as a freeze on APD for at least two years.
“The government must also
find ways to help this industry which now carries levels of debt never seen before and are faced with a workforce exodus also beyond anything experienced for years. “We need some financial help
to re-populate our industry and get new talent onboard. This help should be back dated to the
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ABOUT US Publisher
Jonathan Adair
Jonathan@nitravelnews.com Editorial
Kirsty Johnston
Kirsty@nitravelnews.com Sarah Pickering
Sarah@nitravelnews.com Erin English
Erin@nitravelnews.com Advertising Jordan McCluskey
Jordanm@nitravelnews.com
start of 2022 to help those who have
already started to work
towards this goal. As an industry we ourselves must help to make our industry again an attractive place to work and to get people
excited about joining us. The future of the travel industry in Northern Ireland can be a bright one for us all but our Executive must stand up and make up for their previous lack of support.”
Belfast Ranks in World’s Top 10 Most Sustainable Destinations
Mark Harper Appointed Transport Secretary Amid Cabinet Reshuffle
FOLLOWING the appointment of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister on Monday 24 October, Mark Harper has been appointed as the UK’s new Transport Secretary amid the cabinet reshuffle. Harper succeeds Anne-Marie Trevelyan,
who was appointed as Transport Secretary at the beginning of September by the former Prime Minister, Liz Truss. Taking to Twitter, Mark Harper stated, “Delighted to be appointed secretary of state for transport by prime minister Rishi Sunak. Transport affects us all, and I can’t wait to tackle the challenges we face so we can deliver for communities across our United Kingdom.” During the pandemic, Harper moderated
the Covid Recovery Group of Conservative MPs, a group that was against Covid-19 restrictions. In 2016, Harper backed the remain campaign during the Brexit Referendum. Harper’s predecessor,
Anne-Marie
Trevelyan commented “Congratulations to Mark Harper on his appointment as transport secretary – continuing to deliver on our 2019 manifesto, building infrastructure to help us level-up the whole of the country, and driving the net zero revolution.”
BELFAST has smashed into the Top 10 official list of sustainable destinations in the world according to the 2022 results of the annual GDS Index, which sees the Northern Ireland capital climb eleven places since last year to take the 8th spot; placing the city as the most sustainable destination on the Island of Ireland and securing its prominent position on the international stage as a leading city tourism destination committed to sustainable development and growth.
The Global Destination Sustainability Index is a world-leading sustainability benchmarking
and performance
improvement programme for destinations and their visitor economies. Comparing data submitted by 65 destinations, the results offer insights into the trends and progress of the global destinations’ commitment to transforming
their social, environmental
and destination management practices. Clearly demonstrating a focus to build
the sector back from the impacts of the Covid pandemic and bringing sustainability to the forefront of tourism growth and development, Belfast achieved a score of 84.01% up 13 percentage points from last year when Belfast ranked 19th out of 73 destinations.
Recognising sustainable leaders within the global leisure and business tourism sector at the 61st International Congress and Convention Association conference in Poland, the GDS-Index assesses destination performance across 73 criteria over four key areas: environmental strategy and infrastructure, social industry
sustainability and
sustainability, destination
management performance by Visit Belfast. Visit Belfast fended off global competition to take home the 2022 GDS- Movement’s Innovation Award for its pioneering social impact project Changing
the Menu. For Good. beating a short-list of five destinations that included the Faroe Islands, Helsingborg in Sweden, Valencia in Spain and Washington DC. Spearheaded by Visit Belfast, the initiative that launched earlier this year, enlisted the help and support of the city’s venues, caterers, and events’ organisers to help tackle food poverty by directly raising funds and supplies for local food banks and charities. Founding partners include Hastings Hotels, Queen’s University Belfast, Conference Partners International, Crowne Plaza Belfast, Hospitality Belfast, Eventful, ICC Belfast and Titanic Belfast. The judges felt that Belfast’s Changing the Menu. For Good. was the most scalable, modifiable, and maximally impactful of the top five finalist’s projects. Visit Belfast Chief Executive Gerry Lennon said: “Tourism has played a pivotal role in Belfast’s growth, vibrancy and economic wellbeing in recent years. By working collaboratively and creatively, Visit Belfast and our partners and stakeholders have identified a way where the sector can continue to contribute positively to the city’s wellbeing, at a time when pressures from rising costs of living are impacting so profoundly on people’s lives. ‘Changing the Menu. For Good. is part of our long-term commitment to deliver more sustainable events and drive a regenerative tourism sector which leaves a lasting legacy and that has our people and their needs at its heart.”
Congratulating Belfast on receiving the GDS Innovation Award, Chief Change- Maker at GDS-Index, Guy Bigwood, said “What is clear at these awards is the sheer enormity of creativity, commitment and compassion the sector”
“The Changing the Menu. For Good. initiative demonstrates that to the full, providing best practise and ideas for other destinations to adopt. Well done Belfast!”
Christine McCleery
Christine@nitravelnews.com Events Chelsea Cousins
Chelsea@nitravelnews.com Emma McAllister
Emma@nitravelnews.com
Northern Ireland Travel News Unit 1,
Windsor Business Park, 16-18 Lower Windsor Avenue, Belfast, BT9 7DW
Tel: 028 9066 6151
www.nitravelnews.com
If you would like to receive a copy of Northern Ireland Travel News posted direct to you, please contact
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