Titantic to beef NI’s tourist offering?

Despite a huge increase in the inbound traffic from Britain, Northern Ireland Tourist Board chief executive Alan Clarke believes that more needs to be done.One suggestion is to emphasise the Titantic’s Belfast origin:

2012 offers a convenient target to aim for. That marks the centenary of the Titanic being launched from Belfast for its brief career as the world’s most famous ocean liner before being sunk on its maiden voyage by an iceberg. Eager to cash in on the box office success of the Titanic film, plans are now afoot to develop a visitor centre in the docks where the doomed liner was built.

In a surreal celebration of Belfast’s industrial heritage, artist Rita Duffy is planning in 2008 to tow an iceberg from north of Norway into Belfast. She believes the iceberg would represent a dramatic piece of “performance art” as it slowly melted in Belfast Lough.

Mick Fealty

Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty