Carrick-a-Rede Rope bridge image

Tourism

Over the last decade Northern Ireland has been transformed and is now considered a ‘must-see’ tourism destination.

In recent times the world spotlight has shone on everything from our industrial and maritime heritage to our music, our golfing credentials, our unique stories, and breathtaking scenery. Northern Ireland is not only a great place to visit, it's also an attractive location in which to live, work, study and invest.

Our tourism infrastructure has been bolstered by the development of five high-profile visitor attractions – Saint Patrick and Christian Heritage; the Mournes; Causeway Coast and Glens; the Walled City of Derry; and Titanic – which have international standout and world-class excellence. Northern Ireland also enjoys global recognition as a filming location.  HBO's epic fantasy television series Game of Thrones® was largely filmed in the region and other companies such as Universal Pictures and Disney have chosen Northern Ireland for recent productions.

Popular tourist attractions include Titanic Belfast, The Derry City Walls, The Giant’s Causeway, and Seamus Heaney Homeplace.

While Tourism Northern Ireland is the lead agency for developing the tourism sector, Invest NI may be able to provide support towards building or expanding tourism accommodation in Northern Ireland.

  • In 2025 there were an estimated 5.1 million overnight trips to Northern Ireland with associated spending of £1.2 billion. [1]

  • External visitors accounted for 66% of overnight trips in 2025. [2]

  • 147 cruise ship visits docked in Belfast in 2025, bringing 310,000 passengers and crew. [3]

Please get in touch. Fill in an enquiry form and a member of the team will contact you directly.

For information on how we use your personal data including your rights, see our privacy notice.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

You may also be interested in