A new dedicated cruise terminal has opened at Belfast Harbour, as the city prepares to welcome 285,000 cruise visitors by the end of the year.

The £500,000 facility, which includes a Visitor Information Centre, will help cement Belfast as a popular cruise destination with the latest technology on hand to showcase the region's top tourist attractions.

Cruise Belfast – the partnership between Belfast Harbour and Visit Belfast, worked to upgrade the quayside facility, which now includes a dedicated space for coaches and a new berth for newer and larger cruise ships.

This facility, the only one of its kind on the island of Ireland, will allow Belfast Harbour to welcome a record 148 calls this year, a 31% increase on 2018, including SAGA's first ever new build vessel, the 'Spirit of Discovery' and the world-famous 'Disney Magic' ship.

Opening the new facility yesterday, 29 July, Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor John Finucane, said: "Cruise tourism has been one of the city's success stories of the last decade and has become an important part of our tourism mix, contributing significantly to the local economy through attractions, transport providers and retail. I welcome the investment made by Belfast Harbour and Tourism Northern Ireland in Belfast's new cruise terminal and look forward to welcoming increasing numbers of cruise visitors to Belfast and beyond.

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"We're renowned around the world for our warm welcome and these new facilities will enable us to make the best of first impressions."

Captain Domenico Lubrano Lavadera of the Crown Princess joined Mayor Finucane to open the new terminal.

Joe O'Neill, Belfast Harbour's CEO commented: "The new terminal will provide the first dedicated facilities for cruise ships on the island, allowing visitors to quickly connect to Belfast city centre or join one of the many organised excursions tours to a wide range of visitor attractions including the Giant's Causeway, Hillsborough Castle, Mount Stewart and Titanic Belfast.

"In addition to help attract more visitors, we've also invested in new gangways and luggage scanners which will enable us to market Belfast as an embarkation port. Depending on the level of demand locally, this opens up the exciting opportunity for local consumers to join cruises directly from Belfast instead of flying to Southampton or other regional ports. Cruise & Maritime has already scheduled a number of departures from Belfast for next summer including Norwegian Fjord and British Isles itineraries. In line with our sustainability ambitions we have also installed wind powered quay lighting for the site and a 'smart flower' which will generate solar electricity for the terminal building."

The project was part funded by Tourism NI and managed by Visit Belfast.

This investment also forms part of Tourism NI's growth framework to double the value of tourism to Northern Ireland by 2030.

(CM/MH)