|
 | | Belfast
Welcome Centre wins "Best TIC" award for seventh
time
 BVCB's Director of Visitor Servicing Mary Jo
McCanny was joined by Cllr Conor Maskey, Chair of Belfast
City Council's Development Committee, Jayne O'Neile, NITB
and Clare Strawson, Diageo
NI to celebrate Belfast Welcome Centre winning for the
seventh year in a row, the award for the Best Tourist Information
Centre at the recent Northern Ireland Travel & Leisure News
Awards ceremony. For the first time a mystery shopping element was
added to the judging process which examined a number of key areas
including the services and information provided, accessibility,
staff and items on sale.
Other winners included:-
NI
Special Achievement Award 2010 - Belfast Mela
Best NI Visitor
Attraction 2010 - Giants Causeway
Best UK Domestic Airline 2010
- bmi
Best Worldwide Airline 2010 - Continental
Best Airline
to Europe, ex-Belfast 2010 - Aer Lingus
Best Ferry Company 2010
- Stena Line
Best Travel Industry Internet Booking System -
easyJet
Belfast City Council launches Belfast Business
Awards
Belfast
City Council has officially launched the Belfast
Business Awards 2011. The awards are a prestigious
competition designed to recognise and promote excellence in the
Belfast business community. They are open to any organisation within
the Belfast City Council boundary, whether public or private and
regardless of the size of company or industry. There are 21 award
categories; closing date for entries is Friday 18 February 2011,
with a gala awards ceremony on Thursday 14 April 2011 at Belfast
City Hall.
BVCB
is sponsoring a brand new award entitled "Embracing the Belfast
Brand". This award is open to all organisations which have
demonstrated effective and creative use of the Belfast Brand, in
jointly promoting their business and Belfast.
New feature
lighting masts for Belfast city centre
The first two of
eight "feature lighting masts" have been erected as part of the
Belfast Streets Ahead Project, with work on the other six commencing
in January 2011. The masts will all be 16.2m in height and weigh
about 3.5 tonnes, with a foundation of 17 tonnes of reinforced high
strength structural concrete. Each one will bear the name of a
significant ship built in Belfast and will stand on the east side of
Donegall Place. The masts, which are cased in copper, will be lit up
and represent some of Belfast's famous ships - Titanic; Olympic;
Oceanic; Britannic; Laurentic; Celtic; Nomadic and Traffic. They
have all been engineered and built in Northern Ireland. View
the artist's impression here
The Belfast Streets
Ahead Project is a £28m investment by DSD in 14 streets in Belfast
City Centre. Construction work commenced in the first streets in
July 2007 and in Donegall Place and Castle Place in May 2009. These
are due to be completed by March 2011.
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| BVCB
holds conference clinic at University of
Ulster
 BVCB's
Conference team recently held an inaugral Conference Clinic
at University of Ulster. The event aimed to showcase the support
services on offer from BVCB to help local professionals promote
Belfast and Northern Ireland as a conference destination.
Photo caption: Claire Bradshaw and Lindsey Williamson
welcomed Ian O'Neill and Nigel Dobson to the conference
clinic.
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top
| BVCB
recognises Ambassadors' achievements
 Belfast
Visitor & Convention Bureau recently hosted an Christmas
evening at Deanes
at Queen's to recognise the achievements of long standing
conference ambassadors, who work tirelessly throughout the year to
bring prestigious medical and academic conferences to Belfast.
Photo caption: Eimear Lewis, BVCB with Nora McNairney,
Royal College of Psychiatrists and Mary McClaein, Regulator of
Quality Assurance.
For more information on BVCB's Conference
Ambassador Programme, contact Eimear
Lewis.
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top
| ABC
confirms WhatAbout is number one freely distributed consumer
magazine!
 BVCB's WhatAbout guide is Belfast's number one
freely distributed consumer magazine- as confirmed by the Audit
Bureau of Circulations (ABC). WhatAbout has been awarded its first
ABC certificate, verifying it has an unrivalled average net
distribution circulation of 58,597 copies per issue for the January
to July 2010 period.
For more information on advertising in
WhatAbout, view
our rate card or contact a member of the marketing team on
028 9023 9026.
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| Value
Cabs - official taxi partner for Drumbo Park
 Value
Cabs has teamed up with Drumbo
Park to offer customers "Value Cabs Thursdays". The
initiative allows customers free admission and a free racecard for
Drumbo Park if they take a Value Cab to the greyhound stadium.
Applicable on Thursday evenings from 6.30pm - upon presentation of a
valid Value Cabs receipt. For Value Cabs bookings contact 028 9080
9080.
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| Christmas - Only in Belfast
 Christmas - Only in Belfast advertising
campaign
The Christmas- Only in Belfast
advertising campaign went live in November, incorporating BVCB’s
newly developed, principal campaign strapline ‘Only in Belfast.’ The
integrated, all-Ireland, multi-media campaign combines the
uniqueness of the people, the place and visitor advocacy,
highlighting Belfast’s key products including the unique retail
offering, restaurants, culture, entertainment, and great value
accommodation, with a strong call to action for visitors to
experience Christmas ‘Only in Belfast’, whether on a day trip or a
short break.
The campaign includes a series of new platforms
including 60 Seconds in the City with Pete Snodden on UTV Live each
weeknight for 2 weeks, promoting all that Christmas has to offer; 4
week series of editorial in the Daily Mirror and Experiential
Marketing with ‘The Belfast Christmas Craic Crew’ performing in key
towns in ROI and showcasing all that Belfast has to offer this
Christmas. The Official GotoBelfast App was launched in early
December and is available to iPhone users from the app store free of
charge. Users can get Belfast in the palm of their hand, find the
perfect Christmas gift or try something new with the Time Fillers
feature.
Photo caption: Cllr. Conor Maskey, Chair of Belfast
City Council's Development Committee and Norman Maynes, President of
Belfast Chamber of Trade & Commerce join Anne McMullan, Director
of Communications, BVCB at the launch of the latest Christmas in
Belfast campaign.
Cinemagic celebrates 20th
anniversary
Oscar-nominated actor Liam Neeson hosted an ‘in
conversation’ evening at the Odeon Cinemas in Belfast to culminate
the 20th anniversary celebrations for Cinemagic.
Neeson took take part in a Q&A with young movie fans attend a
special screening of the fantasy-adventure film The Chronicles Of
Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, for which he provides the
voice of Aslan.
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| Awards, accolades & achievements
 Double award win for Hilton Templepatrick
at World Travel Awards
Hilton
Templepatrick Hotel & Country Club has won two accolades
at the World Travel Awards 2010. The resort was named both Best
Leading Golf resort and Best Leading Business Hotel. The property
which is located 20 minutes outside Belfast, boasts an 18 hole
championship golf course with a newly build floodlit driving range
and putting greens and chip and putt areas.
Belfast top
rated Value for Money UK city
Belfast is the top rated
"value for money" UK city according to website hotel.info's Value
for Money Index. The website which is a free online hotel
reservation service for more than 210,000 hotels worldwide,
researched the guest evaluations of the Value for Money in three and
four star hotels. The results for the third quarter of the year
placed Northern Ireland's capital first in the Top 15 UK cities,
beating cities like Bournemouth, Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool
Ulster Museum, Merchant Hotel & Airporter win at UTV
Business Eye Awards
The Ulster
Museum won the award for Tourism & Hospitality Project
at the UTV Business Eye Awards, with The
Merchant Hotel was highly commended in the same category.
Airporter
was highly commended as SME of the year.
Industry
achievement gong for The Old Inn at Licenced & Catering News
Awards
Danny Rice from The
Old Inn, Crawfordsburn has picked up the Industry
achievement award at the recent Licenced Catering News Awards.
Phillip Long from Rockmount Golf Club & Restaurant won Bar
person of the year whilst Botanic
Inn's Horatio Todds won Style Bar of the Year.
CMPR and Newtownabbey Borough Council win at CIPR
Awards
BVCB Member CMPR
picked up two gold awards for Outstanding Small Consultancy and Best
Use of Photography at the recent CIPR NI Pride Awards. Newtownabbey
Borough Council won the award for Outstanding In-House team
The John Hewitt and The Cloth Ear amongst winners at Pub
of the Year Awards
The John Hewitt in Belfast scooped
the award for Most Innovative Pub at the Pubs of the Year Awards
2010 which were held recently in Belfast City Hall. The
Cloth Ear won the award for Best Employee/Team
W5
named as one of the top 10 interactive museums in UK
W5
has been named in the Top 10 interactive museums according to a
recent list published by Yahoo. Located at the Odyssey, W5 hosts
permanent and temporary exhibitions so that every visit offers a new
experience. Also on the top ten list are the Science Museum; British
Music Experience, London; Highland Folk Museum, Scotland; Thackeray
Museum, Leeds; Techniquest, Cardiff and St Fagans National History
Museum.
Northern Ireland: A Favourite Destination for
Business Visitors
Recent research from consultants Tourism
Development International found that nine out of ten business
visitors would recommend Northern Ireland as a top business
destination. Visitors are impressed by the professionalism and
quality of Northern Ireland’s overall conference product, including
venues and staff and the warm welcome of people in general. Value
for money compared to other destinations is also a key incentive for
business travelers in the current economic climate. Northern
Ireland’s world class golf facilities, quality of food and the range
of unique activities available where also praised in the research.
The research recorded the views of more than 300 international
business visitors, and 20 conference organisers and destination
management companies.
BVCB Members pick up Go Belfast
Gongs
Congratulations to the BVCB
Members who won awards at the recent Go Belfast Awards at
the Europa Hotel. Winners included:
Hotel of the Year: The
Merchant
Visitor Attraction of the Year: Ulster Museum
Pub
of the Year: Lavery's
Festival/Event of the Year: Belsonic
Belfast
Live Music Venue of the Year: The Empire
Restaurant
of the Year: Nicks Warehouse
Fashion Retailer of the Year: House
of Fraser
James Street South serves up Best Restaurant
accolade
James
Street South has been awarded Best Restaurant in Northern
Ireland at The National Restaurant Awards 2010 in London.. The
restaurant also ranked number 74 in the 100 best restaurants in the
UK at the same awards. Voted for by chefs, food writers and
restaurateurs from across the UK, the list includes everything from
fine-dining institutions to bistros, gastropubs and country-house
hotels. The chefs, restaurateurs and food writers who make up the
National Restaurant Awards Academy were impressed by the use of
local produce in the kitchen's modern European dishes, which are
complemented by an impressive but accessible wine list.
Down Royal races ahead with record November Festival
A staggering 10,000 people flocked to Down Royal Racecourse on
the JNwine.com Ladies Day of the Northern Ireland Festival of Racing
last month, making it the busiest day on record for the province’s
most famous racecourse. Figures show that the two-day race event,
which attracts pundits from throughout the UK as well as the
Republic of Ireland, saw visitors on the whole increase by almost 10
per cent from last year. Down Royal has invested over £4.5m in the
last 18 months in state-of-the-art new facilities, placing the
racecourse as one of the top sporting and social destinations within
the UK.
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top
| Access
 New park and ride bus services for South
Belfast
Park and ride bus services from south Belfast are
set to be introduced, operated by Translink. The Cairnshill Park and
Ride dedicated bus service will run every 15 minutes at peak times
and aim to cut congestion on the busy Ormeau Road. During off-peak
hours there will be a bus every 30 minutes as well as scheduled
services, giving a frequency of about four an hour. Return tickets
will be available from £2.20
Lisburn prepares to welcomes
the Enterprise train
Lisburn Railway Station is to become a
permanent stop for three daily journeys of the Enterprise train as
it travels to and from Dublin, Monday to Saturday each
week.
Manx2.com establishes a permanent base in
Belfast
Manx2.com
has established a permanent base at George Best Belfast City
Airport, effective from 31 October. It is the first permanent base
the company, which is based in Douglas, has established outside of
the Isle of Man. All Manx2 Belfast services have been relocated to
Belfast City Airport including new routes from Cork and Galway. For
more information, visit www.manx2.com.
Bmibaby moves
Belfast services
Bmibaby is moving its Belfast operation
from the city’s International Airport to George Best Belfast City
airport in January 2011. It will start flying between Manchester,
East Midlands, Birmingham and Cardiff to the airport from January
10. The services will join bmi’s flights between Heathrow and
Belfast City airport, meaning that the bmi group will become one of
the largest operators to and from Belfast City. The bmi group will
now offer up to 89 flights a week from Heathrow and the UK regions
to Belfast City.
Icelandic airline puts province on new
flight path
An Icelandic airline is to begin regular flights
in and out of Northern Ireland. Budget airline Iceland Express is
expanding its 2011 schedule by Belfast as a destination as well as
Dublin and Edinburgh. The service will go via Edinburgh, offering
connections to New York, Chicago and Boston. The low-cost carrier
will offer services between Reykjavik and the Irish and UK cities
over selected periods next summer. Customers based in Scotland will
benefit from twice-weekly flights operating every Monday and Friday
between June 14 and August 30 next year, with lead-in fares of £101
each way.The Belfast service will run via Edinburgh, with similar
prices. There are currently no direct flights from these
destinations to Rekjavik, and Iceland Express says it will offer
connecting services onto its US routes, with a free stopover in
Rekjavik.
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| Miscellaneous
 Lyric Theatre set to open doors on 1 May
2011
Northern Ireland’s flagship Lyric
Theatre has announced a major funding boost as details of a
five year partnership with Northern Bank were revealed at an
exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the new theatre. Building work
is nearing completion and the Lyric will reopen its doors on Sunday
1 May 2011 with a gala performance on the newly named Northern Bank
Stage. Housed in the main auditorium of the new theatre, the
Northern Bank Stage will be at the heart of this iconic landmark
building. There will be 389 seats in a single tiered rake, allowing
audiences to enjoy the same unique sense of intimacy with the actors
on stage that was one of the most successful characteristics of the
old theatre. Details of the opening season will be unveiled in
January 2011.
Odyssey celebrates with £5m revamp
A new contract with a £5m revamp of the Odyssey
Arena has been signed, ten years after the Belfast venue
first opened its doors. The Odyssey Trust, who own the complex, says
it has become Europe's fourth busiest and the world's thirteenth
busiest entertainment venue. Managing company SMG have signed up the
city venue for another 15 years. Additionally, the revamped Odyssey
Bowl, has resumed taking on 10 full time and 16 part time staff.
Victoria Square welcomes NI's 1st Wagamama & 1st
Yogen Früz in Europe.
Victoria
Square has welcomed Yogen Früz, the world's leading frozen
yogurt conglomerate to the centre. The Belfast opening is the
organisation's first European store. Additionally, restaurant chain
Wagamama has opened its first Northern Ireland outlet in the centre.
The openings come after the centre welcomed new tenants
including Independent CD & DVD retailer Head Records and
Australian bag and accessories retailer Mimco which opens a new
stand alone outlet, following the success of its concession within
House of Fraser. Fashion store Guess has also opened its flagship
store in the centre.
Official Launch of Deep RiverRock
Belfast City Marathon Sports Apparel
To celebrate the 30th
year, the organisers of the Deep
RiverRock Belfast City Marathon has launched their Official
Sports Apparel and held a fashion show in the Premier Inn, Waring
Street to showcase the items. The official line is now available
online at www.belfastcitymarathon.com.
New restaurant at
Old Inn named after Narnia author
A £2.7 million investment
to add a new restaurant at the Old
Inn Crawfordsburn has been completed, with the creation of
15 jobs. The restaurant has been named Lewis after author C.S Lewis
, who spent a belated honeymoon at the Old Inn in 1958 with his wife
Joy Gresham. The restaurant now incorporates a stained glass window
dedicated to the famous literary figure and diners can watch their
food being prepared via a copper-lit pass or through glass viewing
panels. For 10 years, the Old Inn has successfully retained two AA
rosettes for cuisine and now plans to compete for three AA Rosettes,
which would make it the first four-star hotel in Northern Ireland to
achieve such excellence.
Exhibitions at The Wickerman
The
Wickerman recently played host to the The ‘Made in Belfast
Exhibition’, featuring 27 images of iconic Belfast scenes, which
were taken by leading Irish photographer David Knight. Many of the
city’s most famous landmarks, including the Albert Clock, the Crown
Bar and Custom House Square featured in the exhibition. The images
formed the basis of a range of cards and prints exclusive to The
Wicker Man.
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| Belfast Welcome Centre Ticketing & Forthcoming
Events
 Tickets available from Belfast Welcome
Centre
The Belfast Music Tour
Weekly on
Saturdays @ 2pm until 27 November
fortnightly from Saturday 4
December until Saturday 26 March 2011
NEW DEPARTURE POINT -
SPRING & AIRBRAKE - ORMEAU AVE
Ulster Orchestra
Season 2010/11
Range of Ulster Orchestra tickets on sale
Range of tickets for Belfast International Chamber
Festival in February 2011
Coiste Political Walking
Tour
Guided walking tour of murals & interface areas of
West Belfast. Tickets £8
CS Lewis Bus Tour
1st
Sunday of each month (until Mar 2011)
2pm Front Gate Linenhall
Library Donegall Sq North - Tickets £10 or £8 Concession (Seniors,
Students, Children)
Lagan Boat Company Titanic Tour
Nov-Feb Sat, Sun & Mon 12.30 & 2pm Tickets £10 full
price £8 Concession (seniors, students & children 4-16) Family
of 4 £30
Late Night Art Bus tour of the Belfast Art
Galleries
Departure point - Naughton Gallery Queens 6:30pm
Tour ends @ the Black Box Hill Street 9pm approx Tickets £6pp
Late Night Art Walking Tour
Tour departs 1st
Thursday of every month @ 6:30pm from Belfast Exposed Gallery
Donegall St
Tour ends at the Black Box Hill Street.Tickets £5
The Three Tenors + Star Violinist & St Peter's
Cathedral Schola Cantorum
Saturday 18th December 2010 at 8pm
(St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast). Tickets £20
Titanic Dock
& Pump-House Tours
Mon, Weds, Sat & Sun at 2pm
Tickets £6 adult, £3 child under 10, £5 child 10-16, £15 family
(2 adults + 2 children)
Titanic Walking Tour
Tickets £12 per adult £11 student/senior, £8 Child 10-16 yrs, £5
under 10, £30 Family
Mon, Wed, Sat & Sun at 11am only.
Departing from the Odyssey. Tour price includes a guided tour of
Thompson Dock & Pump-House
Feile an Earraigh 3rd-6th
Feb
Including 4 Men & a Dog, Hothouse flowers, Red Hot
Chilli Pipers and Capercaillie
7th Belfast Nashville
Songwriters Festival
23 -26 Feb now on sale includng Nanci
Griffith, Cerys Matthews Foy Vance and many more
www.belfastnashville.com
More events
Jack
& The Beanstalk at Belfast Waterfront Until 8 January
The
Celtic Tenors - Ulster Hall 21 December
Christmas
Eve can Kill you - Theatre at the Mill - Newtownabbey 1
December
Festive
Funnies - Grand Opera House 17 & 18 December
All
aboard for festive fun at W5 -Until 23 December
Snow
White & The Seven Dwarfs - Grand Opera House Until 22
January
Meat
Loaf - Odyssey Arena 20 December
A
Magical Christmas - Belfast Zoo 18 & 19 December
Christmas
tours of Belfast Castle18 & 21 December
Bethlehem
Village Experience - Kings Hall 17-18 December
Pigeon
& Plums Victorian Music Hall Xmas Banquet Until 17
December
Ulster
Orchestra - Best of Broadway 18 December
Aer
Lingus Belfast Giants Ice Hockey 18, 26, 28 & 30
December
Transatlantic
Links - Linenhall Library Until 24 December
The
Music Box: A Christmas Extravaganza (starring Peter Corry &
Ulster Operatic Company - Ulster Folk & Transport Museum
- Until 22 December
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