Data presented to Belfast City Council's all-party city centre working group revealed a 39% jump in visitor numbers in July 2024 compared to the same month last year. Footfall also rose by 24.1%, with retail core traffic seeing a 1.6% increase. Visitors spent an average of three hours and 26 minutes in the city centre, a 4% rise from the previous summer.
These positive figures coincide with ongoing initiatives aimed at enhancing the city centre's vitality, cleanliness, safety, investment, and prosperity. Key developments include:
• New Businesses: Several new retail, hospitality, and transport additions have graced the city centre, such as Charles Tyrwhitt, H&M, The Ivy Restaurant, Seed, Voco Hotel, and The Foundry boutique hotel.
• Improved Infrastructure: Belfast Grand Central Station, a state-of-the-art transport hub, is now operational, along with new student accommodation, further enhancing accessibility.
• Enhanced Safety: Two additional Safer Neighbourhood Officers have been deployed to increase patrols and address low-level anti-social behavior.
• Improved Cleanliness: Daily and night-time cleansing operations ensure a clean environment, with additional resources dedicated to removing autumn leaves.
• Vibrant Events: "Belfast 2024," a city-wide celebration of creativity, offers a packed autumn schedule with events like North Star, The Wiggle Room, and an Augmented Reality experience.
Looking Forward
Councillor Michael Long, Chair of the City Centre Working Group, expressed optimism: "We're seeing positive results from our collaborative efforts. New businesses are opening, exciting entertainment options are emerging, and planning applications are encouraging."
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He continued, "Later this year, we'll revisit our City Centre Regeneration and Investment Strategy and prioritize goals for the next decade. Continued collaboration is crucial to ensure Belfast reaches its full potential."
Belfast City Council remains committed to working with various stakeholders, including the NI Assembly, Stormont departments, traders, and private partners, to maintain a vibrant, welcoming, and safe city centre for everyone to enjoy.
Grants for businesses, social enterprises and cultural organisations keen to bring vacant properties back to life are still available - ranging from £2.5K for meanwhile uses to £25K for longer term occupation. The programme has already supported 80 direct employment opportunities and will return £3.87 in rates income for every £1 invested by council.
• Public consultation later this autumn on design concepts for the landmark Belfast Stories visitor attraction, opening by 2030, while a planning application has been submitted to develop Cathedral Gardens, beside St Anne's Cathedral, into a new green park, complete with events space, an urban forest, and a permanent memorial to those who lost their lives in the Belfast Blitz.
Funding has also been secured through the EU's PEACEPLUS programme for five city-wide capital projects, including an LGBTQIA+ Hub on the first floor of 2 Royal Avenue.
• 94 social housing units are being developed by Radius Housing at Gasworks Northern Fringe, while work continues to progress at Loft Lines, Titanic Quarter. Work is also concluding on a development brief process on lands in the inner north-west for housing and on a procurement process to appoint a long-term partner to deliver a significant programme of housing-led regeneration including a number of city centre sites. The HOUSE (Homes On Upper Spaces for Everyone) programme is also currently seeking expressions of interest from property owners and occupiers on the potential to bring forward unused spaces on the upper floors for residential space and help inform a delivery model, with a deadline of October 25.
• Work is progressing with DfC on public realm schemes and environmental improvements in the core city centre including Little Patrick/Little York Street, the South West Quarter around Shaftesbury Square, Blackstaff Square and the 5Cs project which includes College Court, College Street and Callender Street in the first phase and will deliver improved lighting, paving, planting and improved pedestrian access.
• Recent planning permissions granted, including the conversion of Dorchester House, Great Victoria Street, to a 136 room aparthotel, a 5-10 storey office development at City Quays with 23,288m² of floor space, a 1007-unit purpose-built managed student accommodation in Titanic Quarter, ground floor retail and eight floors of Grade A office accommodation at Chancery House and the renewal of planning permission for the redevelopment with 6-8 storey, office-led mixed-use development at the former Belfast Telegraph building, now known as The Sixth.
• Ongoing work with Visit Belfast, Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland, as well as the Belfast City and Region Place Partnership which is delivering a collaborative public-private sector-led programme of work to strengthen Belfast's position in national and international markets, and attract further investment to our city.
