Tourism NI has released a video showcasing Northern Ireland’s world class golf courses alongside positive messages to future visitors from golf club managers, golf pros and local personalities.
The video features video messages from Niall Horan, Rory Best OBE, James Nesbitt OBE and Stephen Watson.
Commenting on the video, Leanne Rice, Golf Marketing Manager at Tourism Northern Ireland said: “This video showcases the passion behind Northern Ireland’s golf sector. Northern Ireland is ‘Made for Golf’ and is the home of world class courses, golfers and events. Golf is much more than just a sport to us, it is a community that brings people together internationally. This was particularly celebrated at The 148th Open last July when almost 240,000 spectators attended the Championship at Royal Portrush.
“Golf visitors are worth over £52 million to our economy annually. With almost 50% of golf tourism income coming from North America alone, our golf clubs and wider sector have been significantly affected by the pandemic and are missing their visitors.
“We were thrilled to showcase so many familiar faces in this video dedicated to the love of golf and we all look forward to welcoming visitors back from around the world to enjoy our fantastic golf product.”
Northern Ireland boasts two of the world’s top 10 golf courses with Royal County Down at Number 1 (for the third consecutive year) and Royal Portrush at Number 8 (Golf Digest rankings 2019). Golf visitors to Northern Ireland average 125,000 each year and are a significant contributor to the tourism sector with 78% of golf visitors wanting to visit tourist attractions when not on the golf course.
Golf clubs featured in the video include Bert Mackay, Castlerock Golf Club; Gary McNeill, Royal Portrush Golf Club; Kevan Whitson, Royal County Down Golf Club; Paul Vaughan, Ardglass Golf Club; Ross Oliver, Galgorm Castle Golf Club and Bert Carson from Lough Erne Resort.
Golf is open for golf members and member guests only at present and courses are not open fully to visitors yet. To learn more about Northern Ireland’s golf product, visit the Northern Ireland Made for Golf website: www.nimadeforgolf.com and follow #nimadeforgolf.