Bushmills still hoping for brand new tourist centre

MOYLE councillors hope the success of a summer pilot scheme to run a tourist information office in Bushmills will show funding agencies that there is a need for a bigger state-of-the-art project to help boost the area.
BUSHMILLS Tourist Information.INBM34-13 014SC.BUSHMILLS Tourist Information.INBM34-13 014SC.
BUSHMILLS Tourist Information.INBM34-13 014SC.

Councillors were told that in a short period of time there were over 2,600 enquiries at the Bushmills centre with more than 1,700 of those from outside Northern Ireland. The centre also led directly to a number of accommodation bookings.

Cllr Willie Graham said he was so glad to see that the Bushmills office is doing well. He said: “They are always very busy. I think its doing a lot of good. We never had more visitors in Bushmills than we had this summer. It is packed every day.”

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Cllr Robert McIlroy praised former councillor Price McConaghy who has always pushed the need for a tourist information office in Bushmills.

Moyle Council previously failed to obtain appropriate funding for a capital project for a tourist info centre in Bushmills.

Cllr Baird said they were turned down for a quarter of a million pounds of funding but she said the success of the pilot scheme shows there is potential.

Council officer Esther Mulholland said she believed the success of the scheme this summer will go some way to building up a good case for a state-of-the-art tourist building in Bushmills.

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Council Chairperson Cara McShane said it is all about building up a case to take it forward.

Bushmills, with it’s ever-popular Bushmills Distillery, and its proximity to Northern Ireland’s top tourist attraction, the Giant’s Causeway, is key to tourism locally.