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Even though it has been almost a century since its ill-fated maiden
voyage, the Titanic continues to draw visitors to Ireland’s
shores, built as it was in the
Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast during the early years
of the 20th Century. Nearly 100 years after it sank, interest in the
Titanic continues to prove lucrative for the city of Belfast.
Indeed, the Titanic attracts so much interest from tourists visiting
Belfast City that the council has given the go ahead, once again,
for two Titanic-themed festivals to take place during 2010. The
final agreements are currently being arranged for this year’s
festival, which is set to take place in April.
In 2009, the ‘Titanic Made in Belfast Festival’ saw more than 30,000
visitors to the area over a nine-day period. This year’s event
will be even more extravagant and is likely to pull in many more
tourists to the shipyards of Belfast.
Likewise, the Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival also saw a roaring trade
during last year’s event, drawing in crowds of more than 10,000
people. The Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival is expected to take
place during the late summer. In previous years this particular
festival has managed to generate over half-a-million pounds for the
local economy.
The Northern Ireland Tourist Board has predicted massive financial gains
to the local tourism industry in Belfast with the hosting of these
two Titanic festivals, which are set to attract tens of thousands of
visitors to the area. It is also predicted that various areas of the
tourism industry will prosper, including car
hire in Ireland, hoteliers and restaurateurs.
The total predicted cost of hosting the two festivals is set to fall at
around £400,000. However, the return on the investment is predicted
to be around £2 million, and this means that for every £1 of
investment made by the council, a return of approximately £4.50
will be seen. This is all great news for the Irish economy in
general.
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