Second Cruise Ship Terminal for Belfast Harbour at Airport Road
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- Опубліковано 24 чер 2024
- 40 years ago because of the IRA and Loyalist 'Troubles', very few cruise ships ever came to Belfast. In 1996 only 2 cruise ships docked in Belfast.
Belfast was a cruise ship, no go area.
Today things are very different. Belfast is now the third most popular
destinations in the UK and Ireland for one-day cruise ship calls.
Game of Thrones, the Titanic Exhibition and the promotion of the Giant's Causeway have drawn the tourists and the cruise ships in.
In 2023 Belfast welcomed 170 cruise ship visits. In total, 57 ships from 32 cruise lines brought 320,000 passengers and crew to the city and region, resulting in a direct spend of around £25m.
Onboard passenger capacity was reckoned to be at 90% per vessel.
15 ships called into Belfast for the first time. These included the prestigious Disney Dream, Norwegian Prima and MSC Preziosa and the Ambassador Ambition. Numbers are increasing every year!
The cruise ship industry continues to provide a welcome boost to the local economy, injecting over GBP 20 million through passenger spending alone. This is quite apart from all the jobs that have been created.
2019 Belfast Harbour opened a new purpose built, Cruise ship Terminal.
( The first dedicated cruise terminal on the island of Ireland. )
The terminal can handle ships with up to 6,000 passengers and crew.
It features a cruise visitor information center, gift shop, ample seating, free Wi-Fi, and a large coach parking area.
Shuttle buses and taxis also have space at the terminal.
2024 Belfast Harbour have now begun work on a heavy duty quay and deep water berth, -including a second cruise ship terminal, beside the WOW centre on the Airport road. This new site is 46 acres of reclaimed land.
I can see why people want to visit Belfast, it's a beautiful city. Thanks Tom.
So much to see in Belfast and beyond. The people are very approachable and welcoming too. This makes a huge difference.
Hello Tom , great news for Belfast more and more cruise ships coming in , its the same in Victoria they made a large area for the cruise ships , I have seen 5 ships in Victoria which means 2 have to wait to dock , I don't think they have room to have tender boats . I just looked up how many are coming this season it said 326 ships which is about the same as last year . I will try and get down there one day there is a very nice sea walk which gets you quite close to it all . Thanks Tom .
Yes Shaun, an excellent investment by Belfast Harbour in the future of tourism here. 326 ships Shaun! That is a staggering number. Victoria must move fast to accommodate all who want to come!
Tom this is excellent news and can only be a good thing for Ireland, having this facility will only surely attract more cruise ship business which is like you say good news for the economy, let's face it who doesn't want to come to Ireland, Anne and I came for the first time in 2014 and i personally fell in love with it from the offset, this investment is money in the bank for the Irish economy and the appropriate authorities need to be looking and taking positive long term plans for H.W. ITS VITAL AND NECESSARY especially on the refurbishment work side of the business, this new terminal could attract more shipping companies to come to Belfast to have work done on there cruise ship's.
So let's have more fingers pulled out and just GO FOR IT.
Yes Chris. This is a big step in the right direction. it can only bring about good. As you say Belfast really needs to get a foot firmly in the door as regards refurbishing cruise ships. Belfast has had some successes but it's only a trickle so far.
What about local wildlife areas are they being destroyed
Fair point Nik. Obviously there will be some bad effects on local wildlife.
Belfast Harbour have taken wild life/environment issues into consideration. They have been working with the nearby WOW centre to limit any disruption/damage. Sometimes projects like this do bring short term damage but sometimes ( not always ) there are long term wild life benefits. eg The Irish hare numbers have increased greatly due to local airport runways at Newtownards and Belfast City. Best wishes from the Belfast Castlereagh hills.
@@TomMcClean you do a great service to highlight issues that don't appear on the woke waste msm agenda