Business Insight Papers
As the world changes, so do holiday motivations. Find out what tomorrow’s visitors want and how small steps can generate big returns.
Use tourism intelligence to grow your business.
These business insights are designed to inform, enthuse, motivate and assist you to make the most of the potential that exists within the tourism sector today and tomorrow. Each guide contains information on growing trends, visitor expectations as well as identifying opportunities to enhance the visitor experience.
For any queries on the attached reports, contact NITB’s Insights & Intelligence Unit by emailing insights@nitb.com
2010/2011 Business Insight series
Tourism and the pub – Maximising Opportunities (September 2010)
The pub industry is an integral part of the Northern Ireland economy and society at large. On trade sales of alcohol amount to just under £435.7 million in 2009, while the Pubs of Ulster (formerly Federation of Retail Licensed Trade Northern Ireland) estimate that licensed premises (including pubs, clubs, cafes, restaurants, etc) generate approximately £1 billion annually.
To find out more information, the Tourism and the Pub – Maximising Opportunities Insights report (September 2010) can be found HERE to download.
Events – gaining sponsorships/maximising partnerships (November 2010)
Northern Ireland is continuing to prove itself as a prime location for hosting international events, with the success of the Tall Ships Festival in 2009 benefitting both the local economy and in-bound tourism effort.
Established events around the world, such as the Edinburgh International Festival demonstrate how this type of success can be repeated – and even exceeded – on an annual basis in Northern Ireland, and event organisers should look to such examples of best practice when planning events.
To find out more information, the Events – Gaining Sponsorships/Maximising Partnerships Insights report (November 2010) has been developed to outline what potential Northern Ireland has to become an internationally recognised host for events, and how they can secure the necessary funding to make this happen. Click HERE to download.
Product Partnerships (November 2010)
Partnerships or strategic alliances play a key role in helping to boost revenue across a number of sectors. The tourism sector in particular lends itself well to partnerships and brings with it advantages and economies of scale for promotion and providing an enhanced visitor experience.
Both large and small operators can often get lost in the myriad of promotional avenues and channels. Partnerships create greater visibility than what can be achieved by operators acting alone.
This publication provides insight into partnerships and intends to inform the reader about the purpose of partnerships in the tourism sector, examples of successful partnerships, and best practice for how tourism operators can create and sustain partnerships.
It aims to galvanise tourism professionals to work collaboratively to raise the quality of the visitor experience and understand their role in the visitor journey as well as build networks to enable them to grow and cluster more products in partnership.
To find out more information, the Product Partnerships Insights Paper (November 2010) can be found HERE to download.
Business Tourism (January 2011)
In 2009 375,000 business trips were taken in Northern Ireland generating
£87 million. Spend per night by business visitors was more than one third higher than that of leisure visitors.
Business trips account for approximately one fifth of all out of state visits to Northern Ireland, but, following the global financial crisis of 2008 business travel to Northern Ireland (and the UK as a whole) has seen a severe downturn. In 2009 there were 23% fewer business visitors travelling to Northern Ireland than in 2008. This has primarily been driven by poor economic conditions and a tough climate for business.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom - the market is set to rebound on the back of economic growth. Indeed, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast 4.7% growth in Global GDP for 2010, compared to a decline in 2009.
To find out more information, the Business Tourism Insights Paper (January 2011) can be found HERE to download.
Activities – sharing success (February 2011)
Activities are a key part of the tourist experience. Defining the market can be a challenging task with so many activities available to tourists.
Activities tourism is a truly global tourism segment. According to the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) global adventure tourism was estimated to be worth US$89 billion (£55.4 billion) from 150 million trips taken in 2010. This includes hard activities (such as climbing and trekking) and soft activities (for example walking, bird watching and safaris). Soft activities make up the majority of this market.
The ATTA further reported that adventure travel is outperforming the wider tourism industry, and is being supported by growth in domestic tourism (on a global scale). In early 2010, some 70% of ATTA members reported that they were expecting sales growth for the coming year.
While the overall adventure activities market has been growing on a global level, tourists’ attentions are being drawn by domestic market activities, due to the recession, which may have mixed implications for the NI activities sector.
To find out more information, the Activities Tourism – Sharing Success Insights Paper can be found HERE to download.
2009/2010 Business Insight series
Click on each one of the links to discover more business insights from the 2009/10 series:
Destination NI Insights
How well do we actually deliver and what do holiday makers really think of Northern Ireland? We asked visitors how they rated us and how they thought we could improve the Northern Ireland visitor experience.
Music Insights
Get under the skin of the Northern Ireland festival scene. Understand its potential for growth, and how music festivals impact positively on other sectors of the tourism industry.
Authentic NI Insights
Authenticity is our passport to success. This insight showcases ways you, the industry, can create an ‘Authentic Northern Ireland experience’ for your visitors.
Short Breaks Insights
The demand for short breaks continues to grow. This insight considers growing trends, visitor expectations, pet hates and must haves.
Learning Holidays Insights
Learn-to holidays are proving increasingly popular. This insight considers relevant trends, Northern Ireland’s current strengths and weaknesses, and our likely future development needs within the ‘learning holidays’ sector.
Food Tourism Insights
Northern Ireland is a great destination for food lovers. And there is still potential to grow. This insight considers how you can use food to enhance the visitor experience, stay ahead of the game and keep on top of market trends.