Belfast Cultural Tourism Visitor Management Plan

20 April 2004 | blog, cities, place making, strategy, tourism

As part of its Cultural Tourism Strategy and Action Plan, Belfast City Council has commissioned a multidisciplinary team consisting of TTC International, g2 and Willie Miller Urban Design to carry out a Cultural Tourism Visitor Management Plan.

The consortium was appointed to the project in early February 2004 with the task of completing the work by May so that necessary funding bids could be made in a timely fashion to the EU Peace Programme. The work forms part of Belfast City Council’s implementation of its Cultural Tourism Strategy launched just two years ago. The work is aimed at helping to make the city more ‘usable’ for the tourist particularly those interested in culture and at the same time providing increased information for residents.

The detailed TOR are set out as an Appendix to this report but they can be summarised as three key phases of work:

The Concept – the articulation of a Visitor Management Plan detailing how the Queens Quarter, City Centre and Cathedral Quarter should be presented to the visitor.
The Design Template – to take the agreed concept and practical plan and translate it into a design template/tool kit palette for dealing with the issues identified and future proposals for the development, interpretation, management and presentation of the cultural tourism offering in terms of the public realm.
Specific Initiatives & Implementation – to translate the outcome of the two previous stages into practical, workable initiatives, schemes and projects on the ground. This will include detailed technical specifications, designs, artwork and a plan for the delivery of same, including advising on and overseeing the implementation of the scheme.

This plan will help to develop Belfast in global terms as a city of unique cultural standing. The brief for the study proposes the development and delivery of plan for the most effective interpretation, presentation, management and development of the City’s public realm in designated cultural tourism quarters.