Game of Thrones brings tourists to Down District

Game of Thrones brings tourists to Down District

24 September 2014

THE popularity of the hit TV series Game of Thrones is helping increase the number of visitors to Northern Ireland, a major tourism conference in Downpatrick has heard.

The iconic HBO series is largely filmed in Northern Ireland, with a number of scenes already shot on location at Inch Abbey and the Steamboat Quay area at the Quoile River in Downpatrick.

Scenes have also been filmed
near Strangford with filming for
the next series of Game of Thrones taking place recently outside Saintfield.

The St. Patrick Centre in Downpatrick was the venue last week for a meeting of the Tourism Ireland Board which focused on global promotions of Northern Ireland.

Tourism Ireland chairman, Brian Ambrose, said members were delighted to be in the town for the board meeting and to have the chance to meet with representatives of the tourism industry from across the Province.

He said the huge popularity
of Game of Thrones — which has paved the way for specialist coach tours to parts of Down District taking show enthusiasts to various film locations — was helping increase the overall number of visitors to the Province.

As part of a ground-breaking partnership, Tourism Ireland joined forces with HBO in the spring to harness the global popularity of Game of Thrones and promote Northern Ireland around the world using the power of social media.

During last week’s board meeting, Tourism Ireland members took the opportunity to meet with various local tourism operators to discuss this year’s tourist season and Tourism Ireland’s extensive promotional programme to highlight Northern Ireland around the world.