Fleadh to exceed projected £53m economic boost to Belfast

Staging the world's largest celebration of Irish music and culture in Belfast this week is expected to exceed £53m in terms of an economic boost to the city.

The latest projection about the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann was given by Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald as she welcomed hospitality representatives and tour operators to the city.

The eight-day festival, which runs until 9 August, marks the first time the event has been held in Belfast.

More than 176,000 people were in the city centre on Sunday for the opening ceremony - an increase of 95% on the same day last year.

On Thursday, Archibald said the signals were "pointing in a positive direction" and the Department for the Economy (DfE) now expected the economic boost to exceed the £53m figure which her department had announced earlier this week.

Archibald added: "I think we have seen greater than expected numbers coming to experience the Fleadh this year, so we are anticipating that it will likely be greater than that.

"We haven't got a number on it yet, all of that will come in the evaluations post event."

The DfE had allocated £1m in funding to help Belfast City Council stage the event which has already attracted hundreds of thousands of people to Belfast from across the world.

When assessing the impact of an event like the Fleadh, it involves some complex considerations.

BBC News NI's economics and business editor John Campbell said the first step is working out 'additionality' - the extra economic activity that happened only because of the event.

However, what's known as 'deadweight' - or what tourist spending would have happened anyway - and 'leakage', where money spent in Belfast ends up with businesses based elsewhere like with international drinks companies, must also be considered.

"There is also the impact of 'reallocation'," he said. "Where spending by local people simply moves from one business to another, and 'displacement', where spending doesn't happen at all, such as people choosing not to do their usual city centre shopping during the event.

"The Fleadh has characteristics which means it is good at generating additionality.

"It attracts visitors from outside Belfast and Northern Ireland, runs over a week which helps drive spending on accommodation, and is spread across the city, meaning money is spent across multiple businesses."

The Fleadh was part of Derry's Capital of Culture in 2013 and a post-event analysis found that it was by far the most significant event in generating additionality across that year.

John Bittles, the owner of Bittles bar in the city centre, said what the business had made in four days was the equivalent of a week's takings.

Sunday was one of their busiest trading days, he said.

"Genuinely, it has been off the scale," he said.

"This is the biggest event I've seen in 50 years; I've been doing this a long time."

He said the level of trading had been "without a doubt a game changer" with Irish President Catherine Connolly even among those dropping into his pub during her visit to the Fleadh this week.

Andy McNeil, general manager at the Europa Hotel, said the hotel was fully booked from Friday to next Monday adding that the Fleadh had "put Belfast on the map".

"This week is going to be unbelievable in terms of revenue for the hotel, it's probably going to be one of the best Augusts we've had."

He said the Fleadh had been a "massive success" with an amazing buzz around the city.

"I've spoken to people today and it's their first time visiting Belfast, and they just couldn't believe the welcome that they got and how friendly the people were. "

However, he pointed out that not all hotels were experiencing a boost from the Fleadh.

"I'm hearing mixed reports. Some places are getting a boost and some are not. It depends on the location with those closest to the pedestrian zone in the city centre performing best."

Nuala Devlin Saul is the managing director of Brack Tours, a tour operator focused on the North American market.

She said people travelled to the island of Ireland due to family connections, the landscape or the food but she said now, it was for the music.

"The feedback we are getting from our clients is 'where will we get some Irish music or music in general' and there is no better place on the island of Ireland than this week – it's incredible.

"Northern Ireland isn't just about golf, it's about the people, the place and I suppose our pride in selling Northern Ireland and I think this week has been amazing."

The week's festivities have been showcasing music, language, heritage, storytelling, and our shared traditions.

Laura McCorry, chief executive of Tourism NI, said they had been hearing nothing but positivity from those within the hospitality and tourism industry.

"The increased footfall that is coming into the city is providing much-needed revenue for businesses and actually the businesses in the sector have invested a lot in making sure that visitors really enjoy the experience."

She said people were delighted "to see visitors coming in from all over the world".

"Most importantly everyone recognises the power of the Fleadh and that is these powerful global images going out around the world and really creating a fan base for Northern Ireland.

"Hopefully lots of people who will come back and visit again."

Janice Gault, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation, said that for her members it is just not about this year's festival, "it is about next year when the Fleadh returns and it is about building on that".

"We have seen a lot of people who have never been here before, some of them have come for one night and they are talking about coming back for more in the future, that's an excellent thing," she told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"We are on the world stage for positive reasons, when you walk around the city, it is really alive.

"I was approached yesterday morning on my way to a breakfast by an American, two Germans and somebody who I think was Scandinavian and they were so excited at half nine in the morning."

Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, said "truly there will be a legacy from this".

"From the hospitality side it's looking really positive," he said.

He said it would be from Thursday onwards that hospitality businesses would see their premises become busier still, as the first part of the week was more competition focused.

"We're really positive by the end of the week we'll have some happy hospitality businesses," he said.

Fleadh Cheoil is an annual Irish arts festival and competition run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCE) - the society of the musicians of Ireland.

The organisation was founded in 1951 by traditional musicians and Gaelic culture advocates from across Ireland who wanted to enhance traditional music, dance and language on the island.

Each year numerous fleadhanna (festivals) are hosted across Ireland, at county and provincial level.

The best-known of these festivals is Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, often simply known as the Fleadh, which draws thousands of people, and sometimes a famous face or two.

In March, CCE confirmed that Belfast will again host the Fleadh in 2027 becoming the first location in Northern Ireland to host the music festival twice.

Previously the only time the festival was held in Northern Ireland was in 2013, with the event in Londonderry attracting an estimated 400,000 people and 20,000 performers.