2. Mr Bradley asked the Minister for the Economy to outline his Department’s plans to work with Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council to maximise the tourism potential arising from The Open at Royal Portrush in 2025. (AQO 930/22-27)

Tourism NI, on behalf of my Department, is committed to working with key partners to deliver even more benefits from the Open in 2025 than were generated in 2019. The previous event brought more than £100 million of combined economic and media benefit for the North, delivering huge global broadcast reach and PR coverage. Tourism NI is working closely with Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, and both are on various multi-agency planning groups. The local business and community group, chaired by the council, is working with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) and its suppliers on opportunities for jobs, training and volunteering for the local community, as well as on overall supply chain benefits. Work with partners is under way to deliver a local and international promotional campaign.

I thank the Minister for his answer. Minister, the reason for the question was that there was a huge spin-off, which you mentioned, from the 2019 competition but Portrush was described as a "ghost town". There was very little footfall on the peninsula, and businesses and traders lost out in the overall economic benefit from the competition.

That is why some of the work is about engaging with supply chains. That boosts not only the businesses in the town but the local economy and prosperity, which will have a longer effect. If people who live in the area benefit from such tournaments by supplying to and working with them, that prosperity is reflected in the footfall in local towns and shops.

Through Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland, part of our focus is to extend the season so that it is not linked simply to seaside towns in the summer season. Obviously, tournaments such as the Open bring a significant additional boost to whatever summer season activity there might be on the north coast. Part of our objective is to stretch the season so that we do get not the ghost town effect over the winter but more investment in businesses and, therefore, more attractions for people to visit over the winter months.

Tourism and hospitality is obviously a key sector for the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area, which receives numerous visitors from overseas every year. What is the Minister doing to address the threat to tourism in the Causeway coast and glens area and across the North that is posed by the introduction of the British Government's electronic travel authorisation (ETA) scheme?

I wrote to the Minister in the previous Government in Britain who was responsible for that and have consistently made clear my concerns about it. I concur with the sector and the industry's view that it will be potentially very damaging to us. I wrote to the Minister in the previous Administration in London, and, after the change in government, I wrote to the new Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Seema Malhotra, seeking an urgent meeting on the matter. I am pleased to say that she responded to me last week and has agreed to meet me when I am in London next month. I intend to raise the matter directly with her.

Minister, will you give us your assessment of the impact that short-term lets and the likes of unregulated holiday homes and Airbnbs will have on tourism, particularly along the north coast, where we have such a difficulty with our housing crisis?

Tourism NI has a responsibility for the certification of a range of tourism properties, including potential overnight stay properties. Beyond those, there is a proliferation of things like Airbnbs and other places that offer more casual stays. I know that that is impacting, because it has been raised with me in relation to the availability of homes for people in areas like the north coast. Tourism NI, along with the Department, is looking at the legislation that governs how it approaches the issue to see whether it can be reviewed and expanded into other areas in order to have some impact. At present, there is no ability to cap provision in any sector, so we intend to look at the issue. It has been raised with us increasingly in regard to the potential impact not just on other tourism providers but on home availability. It is something that we will want to look at in the time ahead.

Following on from Mr Bradley's question, what engagement has the Minister had with Executive colleagues about supporting local businesses to ensure maximum trading opportunities during the Open?

Up in Royal Portrush Golf Club, the Minister of Finance and I met the local chamber of commerce and got a briefing on the tournament, how it is being organised and all the spin-offs that, it is hoped, will be achieved from it. Of course, our agencies are fully engaged in ensuring that it is as beneficial as it can be, not just in the coverage that it gets and the visitors that it attracts but in the spin-off to the local community from the supply chain and other opportunities that there might be. We will continue to engage on that.

All the Executive members are excited about the prospect of the Open coming here next year. I am sure that the First Minister and deputy First Minister will be involved in promoting it to make sure that it is the best tournament possible, but I am happy to work with all Executive colleagues to make sure that we get maximum benefit out of it.

I encourage the Minister to work with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council as well as Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council to promote and highlight two of our great assets on the north coast: our world heritage sites, namely the Giant's Causeway and the newly designated Moravian settlement at Gracehill. Can the Minister assure me that both of those world heritage sites will be included as part of the promotional package and marketing campaign that he talks about for Royal Portrush?

The entire North will be covered in the marketing campaign for the tournament, because the visitors who come here do not come for just three or four days on the north coast. They will go across the region, and there will be a significant marketing effort to ensure that they come here, stay, enjoy it, spend money and, perhaps, spend longer than the duration of the tournament. If the Member watched the coverage of the Irish Open from County Down last month, he will have seen that the promotional material that was shown in the breaks from the golf highlighted all of our tourist attractions and landscapes across the North and across the island generally. There will be a significant push to make sure that we maximise the benefit across the board.

I agree that golf events can be a driver of tourism — pun intended; I'm here all week. My question relates to the extension of the two tourism brands — Ireland's Ancient East and the Wild Atlantic Way — that cover areas close to Royal Portrush and Royal County Down. Last month, I was at the Irish Open and saw some Ireland's Ancient East branding. Minister, according to the business plan, your Department's target is to extend them to January 2025. Is that on target? When will we see it rolled out more widely?

We are in dialogue. We set up a working group for the three tourism agencies — Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Northern Ireland and Tourism Ireland — and both Departments to work through the issues. We are making progress. Some of the branding might be quicker than other bits, but, as the Member will be aware, there is already a scheme funded through the Shared Island Fund in relation to the Fáilte brand and how it links with the north coast. I think that about €9 million is being spent there on supporting people to engage with that. Yes, it is something that we are focused on. I will meet Minister Martin at next month's North/South sectoral meeting. There has already been a meeting of the inter-agency group that is dealing with it, and we hope to make progress on that in the near future.