Giant's Causeway brings in £484m from tourism

The Giant’s Causeway remains our biggest tourist attraction

By Staff Reporter

Northern Ireland's best known tourist attraction the Giant's Causeway helped generate almost half a billion pounds for the north coast region in the last year, a new economic report has found.

The UNESCO World Heritage site helped generate £484.3m for the Causeway Coast and Glens district, according to an Ulster University economic and social impact report which was commissioned by the National Trust, the owner of the site.

The number of visitors to the Giant's Causeway topped one million in 2017.

The analysis found that the average spend per tourist staying in the area is £420.

Max Bryant from the National Trust said: "This report really shines a light on the important role the Giant's Causeway plays both economically and socially across the region.

"We are proud to be one of the main employers along the north coast. We employ 75 full time staff and this figure increases significantly during peak season.

"We contribute over £1.5m in wages to local people and remain committed to working closely with the community - in fact 80% of the craft for sale in the visitor centre is produced locally."