North Down Borough Council Tourism Manager, Christine Mahon

Christine Mahon spoke on the subject of Tourism in North Down

Ms Mahon reported that during the last year more than 200,000 people had visited North Down with most of them being in the ABC1 wealth bracket and spending more than £20 million, placing Bangor in the top six holiday destinations in Northern Ireland.

Over the last year, North Down held over 400 event days and 65 attractions, which has helped create over 1,000 jobs in the hospitality / tourism sector, but the industry is now facing competition from low cost airline operators meaning the sector is competing with mainland Europe for holiday traffic.

Ms Mahon pointed out that North Down must therefore make the most of its maritime strengths and physical resources rather than unsuccessfully attempting to compete with the Odyssey arena on indoor events.

She added that with the possibility of bringing an Olympic qualifying event to Bangor in 2008/09 approximately 35,000 people could be brought to the Borough.

"We cannot rely on the sun always shining on Bangor or the status quo," she said. "Other regions are always seeking to take our place.

"For example, Banbridge has a new shopping centre opening soon that is expected to oust us from the top six destinations within 18 months of it opening.

"We also have to remember that the dividends from the peace initiatives will not be coming in after the end of this year; although North Down has never received much from them, we will still suffer a knock-on effect."