BUSINESS trips in Northern Ireland were in significant decline before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, new tourism data suggests.
According to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), there were 27,712 fewer trips during January to September 2019 when compared with the same period in 2018, a drop of nine per cent.
The decline was largely driven by a 53 per cent fall on internal business trips within the north.
Business trips from Britain did increase 14 per cent in the nine months, but other overseas business trips fell by 12 per cent.
NISRA’s latest tourism data has excluded visitors from across the border, due to “continuing issues” with data from the Republic’s Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Even without those figures, Tourism NI said the 3.6 million trips recorded in the nine-month period last year broke new records.
It was largely driven by a 19 per cent surge in visitors from Britain, contributing to a nine per cent rise in tourist spending to £712 million.
However, Tourism has warned that warned the Covid-19 pandemic is having a severe impact on the industry.
The body said it would publish data for 2020 in due course.
