Figures suggest booming tourism industry but MLA seeks for more help for businesses
Figures show a significant increase in tourism but MLA is seeking additional support for local businesses to help them cope with the influx of visitors.
A TOTAL of 50 new tourism businesses were created in Causeway Coast and Glens between 2023 and 2025.
And, according to figures released to the Assembly, tourists spent almost £600m on overnight trips to the borough during the same three-year period. Just over 1.15m visitors spent at least one night in the borough in 2025.
Around two-thirds were either on holiday, on a short break or here for recreational purposes while another 20 per cent were in the borough to visit friends or relatives and 15 per cent for business or other reasons.
Belfast hosted the most visitors with 1.5m. That figure represents around 30 per cent of all trips to Northern Ireland.
However, Causeway Coast and Glens had twice as many overnight tourists as any other district outside the city.
Despite the apparent success, MLA Claire Sugden called for even greater ambition, saying the area has enormous potential to attract further international events, support successful local businesses and create new economic opportunities.
“The North Coast is one of Northern Ireland’s greatest assets and I am incredibly proud of what we have here,” she said.
“Tourism should create opportunities for the people who live here too. I want the North Coast to be somewhere people are excited to visit but also somewhere people can build successful businesses, create good jobs and invest for the future.”
Read the full story in this week’s Coleraine Chronicle.