Northern Area Plan 2016
Strategic Plan Framework: Tourism

The Plan area has some of Northern Ireland’s prime tourism assets. These include the Giant ’s Causeway, the Region’s only World Heritage Site, and 130km of coastline with a series of visitor attractions, including miles of glorious beaches, renowned golf courses, and superb coastal scenery. The area also includes a large number of forest parks and country parks ranging from Roe Valley in the west to Glenariff in the east. Portrush remains the Region’s most important tourist resort and is the centre for a number of major annual sporting and leisure events, some of regional significance. The Lower Bann is the only navigable river in the Plan area. The area provides considerable opportunities for activity based holidays including fishing, boating, golfing, walking and cycling.

The Plan area includes all of the Causeway Coast and the North Derry Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the greater part of the Antrim Coast and Glens AONB and the northern part of the Sperrins AONB. All or part of four of the Region’s eight Strategic Natural Resources, as identified by the RDS, are within the Plan area. There are four coastal towns and villages – Ballycastle, Bushmills Cushendall and Cushendun – which include important Conservation Areas. Ballymoney retains the traditional character of a market town, and is also a designated Conservation Area.

Traditionally, the North Coast was Northern Ireland’s primary tourism destination, dominated by successful coastal resorts providing hotel and guest-house accommodation. Throughout the Post War period there was a steady decline in serviced accommodation, as the holiday market initially shifted towards caravans. With the growth of foreign travel, particularly over the past 30 years, the decline of traditional tourism has continued.

This has resulted in major physical, economic and social changes. It has been a challenge to find alternative uses for large buildings such as former hotels and guest-houses. The growth of large static caravan parks in open landscapes has adversely affected the setting of some coastal settlements, while in recent years the growth of second homes has impacted on the social and economic functioning of almost all the coastal towns and villages.

Second homes have become a major issue of controversy within the coastal settlements. Local communities complain of their perception of the decline in social and economic infrastructure. Conversely, there are those who argue that second homes are making an important, if not vital, contribution to the local tourism industry. In the public mind, second homes are particularly associated with modern apartment developments, although the evidence collected by the Department suggests a remarkable spread through all areas of the housing market.

In recent years there has been a rapid expansion of proposals for dwellings for second home occupation within rural coastal areas. This was facilitated by regional policies which were aimed at contributing to the local rural economy. With the subsequent interpretation that seasonal occupation is sufficient to meet the policy test, many proposals and developments have followed. These have been concentrated in the most attractive locations, which are often within the most sensitive coastal landscapes. There have been particular issues with the pressure and scale of proposals within the Causeway Coast AONB, particularly in the vicinity of the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site.

Realising the tourism potential of the Plan area will continue to require investment in marketing, product development, and physical facilities in terms of visitor infrastructure, especially visitor accommodation. Since a vibrant tourism sector depends on a quality host environment its growth must be based on the provision of quality tourism facilities, and accommodation that contributes to the sustainability of the industry.