The Purple Flag accreditation is a town and city centre award, backed by Government, police and business. Currently four towns and cities in Northern Ireland have achieved Purple Flag status for offering visitors a great night out.
Belfast, Enniskillen, Bangor and Derry-Londonderry have all been recognised for showing evening visitors an entertaining, diverse and safe night out.
Achieving Purple Flag Status
To achieve Purple Flag status, which is similar to the Blue Flag for beaches, towns and cities must be welcoming to everyone, offer safe ways for visitors to travel home, provide a good mix of venues and be appealing in the evenings. Purple Flag towns benefit from more visitors and lower crime and anti-social behaviour.
Development of the evening and night time economy in urban centres in Northern Ireland is part of the
Draft Tourism Strategy for Northern Ireland to 2020. As well as the four towns and cities that have achieved Purple Flag status in Northern Ireland, there are now 25 other centres with Purple Flag status across the UK. These include major centres such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Preston and Nottingham, all of which deliver a range of activities, initiatives and services as part of a city centre partnership.
The Purple Flag project was initiated in Northern Ireland by
Pubs of Ulster, The Department of Justice and the
Association of Town Centre Management with funding support through NITB’s Tourism Innovation Fund, which was part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the European Sustainable Competitiveness programme for Northern Ireland.
For further information on the Purple Flag scheme in Northern Ireland contact Jayne O’Neile, NITB Visitor Management Officer:
Tel: 028 9044 1672