Coach tourism is looking to a good 2023, with what has been described as a mood of positivity around the year’s prospects in evidence at the recent Coach Tourism Association (CTA) conference in Belfast.
That is a shared message from the Association and its Chair Robert Shaw (pictured, below), who is also Director of Coventry coach operator Harry Shaw. Industry delegates at the conference reported what CTA says are “strong bookings against the consumer media backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis.”
“The majority of operators are ahead on bookings compared to last year,” says Mr Shaw. “Especially from out 55-years-old-plus traditional coach tour market, we are seeing enthusiasm to travel backed up by financial spend. We expect an upturn in business for the year ahead.”
The importance to coach tourism of friction-free travel between Great Britain and Ireland was highlighted at the conference. Tourism Ireland Chief Executive Niall Gibbons adds that coach tourism is important to the whole island and that travellers arriving by coach “stay longer, spend more, and are particularly crucial during the off-season.”
Delegates also heard from journalist Simon Calder. He notes that there is a pent-up demand for travel and that the convenience of doing so by coach to Ireland is attractive against a backdrop of airport disruption, passport bureaucracy and border delays elsewhere.
Attractions in Northern Ireland were highlighted at the conference. Among those is Titanic Belfast, which reopens this spring following refurbishment. Titanic Distillers – to be Northern Ireland’s first whisky distillery to open in 90 years – will welcome coaches, and the Belfast Distillery Company opens for tours this autumn. Four new hotels will also be established in Northern Ireland this year.
A further parts of the event was a set of familiarisation tours, a meet the buyer workshop session, and a fundraising event at the gala dinner that raised over £1,600 for People’s Kitchen Belfast. It provides meals to marginalised and vulnerable people in the city.
The next CTA event, its spring networking and annual general meeting, will take place in Llandudno between 21-22 May.
