Tourism NI cuts funding for some Northern Ireland events

The Balmoral Show is among the events to previously receive funding from Tourism NI

A scheme to support events in Northern Ireland will not be run by Tourism NI this year because of budgetary constraints.

Applicants for the National Tourism Events Sponsorship Scheme were told it was a "regrettable decision".

It means no sponsorship funding will be available for a number of big events.

That is because the budget given to the tourism body from Stormont's Department for the Economy is "significantly lower" than in recent years.

The scheme was aimed at supporting events with a minimum of 1,000 visitors and a minimum income and expenditure of £50,000 to support growth in visitor numbers and visitors' spending.

It has previously funded events such as Armagh Food & Cider Weekend, the Balmoral Show, Belfast Mela, Carnival of Colours in Londonderry, the EuroPro Tour Northern Ireland Masters at Clandeboye Golf Club and the Northern Ireland Science Festival.

Tourism NI said: "We are seeking to minimise the impact of the cuts on the wider tourism industry.

"This has unfortunately resulted in us having to take some difficult decisions as to how we spend our budgets this year."

It said that while it could not provide funding it was "keen to identify other ways" to support events and would work closely with organisers.

The Department for the Economy's day-to-day spending budget is just over £772m for this year - 16% lower than it had expected.

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As a result of that allocation it said Tourism NI would face a £9m reduction in its funding, which is a 33% cut compared with last year.

Last year its budget was inflated because of additional Covid-19 pandemic-related money.

It is responsible for the development of tourism, supporting the tourism industry and for marketing Northern Ireland as a tourist destination.