A CO ANTRIM councillor has called on Tourism NI to “reissue” a recent advertising campaign for the Causeway Coastal Route after some villages were omitted.
Oliver McMullan said people living in The Glens were “furious” about the Discover Northern Ireland advert which has appeared in newspapers in recent days, including The Irish News.
The campaign and imagery advertise the charms of The Causeway Coastal Route, highlighting locations along the way, as well as things to do and places to stay.
However, Mr McMullan, a Sinn Féin member of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, said some villages had been left out of the route including Cushendall, Cushendall and Glenariff as well as Carnlough.
“With the Covid pandemic, the tourism industry was badly, badly hit but we are fighting our corner here in the Glens,” he said.
“They have left out five of the nine Glens. Are we not important any more?
“A lot of these people have put their own money into the businesses, invested in the businesses, improved them and we have adhered to all the protocol and regulations that the tourist board have stipulated.”
Mr McMullan said he had written to Tourism NI about the issue and also intended to table an emergency motion “asking the council to support me and also call on the tourist board to reissue it and include the Glens”.
“You can not promote the Causeway Coastal Route without the Glens being in it,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Tourism NI said it had written to Mr McMullan “outlining how we regularly feature the Glens of Antrim across all our channels, partnerships and publications in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland including TV and radio features, accommodation offers, press releases, media visits, web and digital content.
“The Glens will be featured in our updated destination imagery at George Best airport in Belfast and as part of ongoing advertorials in our current staycation campaign for the autumn,” she said.
