REPORT - ITB 2006, BERLIN: The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) has identified five key ‘signature’ projects to highlight the unique qualities – past, present and future - of this undervisited part of the island of Ireland. Most ambitious of these is a massive project to create a ‘Titantic Quarter’ at the Belfast shipyards where the cruise liner was originally built in 1912.

The multi-million pound development by Harcourt Developments (the landowners) was launched in October 2005, and will include an exhibition centre, museums, hotels, a marina, and entertainment parks – all part of a regeneration scheme for Belfast’s dockland area, and due to be ready for the Titanic’s 100th anniversary in six year’s time.

St Patrick is another key theme, and NITB is producing a guide to help visitors follow in his footsteps, visiting Northern Ireland’s numerous St Patrick relics. The Giant’s Causeway, a world heritage site is already Northern Ireland’s most visited attraction, but NITB is producing sample itineraries to make sure that visitors to the Causeway visit more of the Antrim Coast, as well as a new visitor centre at the Causeway which will be operational by 2008.

Another NITB focus is the finely preserved walled city of Derry – Ireland’s only walled city – which will benefit from new lighting of the actual walls and surrounding buildings as well as new exhibitions, to include a new Armada Exhibition in the Tower Museum (open already), a craft centre and EUR6 million interpretation ‘story of Derry’ project, ready by 2007. And in Northern Ireland’s dramatic countryside, signposts and marked ways are being improved in the nine peaks of the Mourne Mountains to help the growing number of walkers.

Target markets for Northern Ireland are Europe – there are now direct links with eleven different European destinations – the USA (with new access from Newark) and Canada (with access from Vancouver, and starting in May from Toronto).