How Arts, Culture, and Heritage can Embrace a Giant Spirit

We know that the brand makes a great impact. When tested with our key markets, it increased likelihood to visit Northern Ireland by 30%.

Our culture, in all its forms, is at the heart of this brand promise. Northern Ireland - Embrace a Giant Spirit creates a first-class opportunity for ambitious arts, culture and heritage businesses.

We are looking for innovative and committed businesses who are keen to develop and align with our brand.

The Northern Ireland - Embrace A Giant Spirit Experience Development Toolkit contains details of the brand and what it could mean for your business.

The Inspirers

The four pillars of Northern Ireland - Embrace a Giant Spirit are called The Inspirers. These convey the Giant Spirit of Northern Ireland and form a common thread running through how visitors experience Northern Ireland. 

These should be the touch points of everything that you offer domestic or international customers. They can inspire visitors, help them enjoy their time here and leave them with lasting memories.

Big-hearted

Big-hearted experiences help visitors to meet the people of Northern Ireland. This means the warm Northern Ireland welcome should be front and centre of every aspect of your experience. Big-hearted is the most important Inspirer.

For cultural experiences, Big-hearted can be reflected in the passion and emotion of our artists. Or in our hospitality in inviting people ‘behind the scenes’ and into other ‘close up’ experiences. Or in introducing visitors to exceptional people and events from our past. Or in the welcome we extend to people from different cultures and backgrounds.

Glenshane Country Farm: Jamese and Sheep Dogs at Work

Glenshane Country Farm began when Jamese noticed that visitors at his self-catering cottage loved to watch him at work with his dogs. He did the big-hearted thing and invited visitors in, recognising that his day-to-day was exceptional to them. Visitors spend time with him on this farm, immersing themselves in stories of four generations of hill farming and having hands-on practice of the farming tasks alongside the family sheepdogs.

Original

To stand out in a competive international travel environment Northern Ireland needs visitor experiences that are unusual and unexpected.

Our creative industries and the people who work in them have a special role in demonstrating that Northern Ireland is a powerhouse of imagination. We can also emphasise our heritage of pioneering inventiveness especially in industrial innovation and our strong craft traditions.

An Droichead – The Belfast Traditional Music Trail

The Belfast Traditional Music Trail introduces visitors to the city’s rich and lively trad music scene. It aims to make the music more accessible by enabling visitors to get to know musicians and their stories and learn about their instruments and the music they play.

This offer is original because it is distinctively Belfast. The music is indigenous to these islands, although some may have roots elsewhere, but its distinct style has been shaped by the city of Belfast. The success of this tour demonstrates the value of being true to what you have. In this case the Traditional music scene in Belfast was already exceptionally vibrant, the Trad Trail showcased it and made it available to visitors.

Legends and Stories

Well-told stories touch our visitors’ emotions. Our built heritage and cultural visitor experiences, ranging from traditional music and storytelling to contemporary arts, can draw on our legends and stories. Many media - visual, verbal, music, dance and crafts - can carry resonant stories.

Donna Fox Tours - Unearthing Macha

The ancient mystical story of Macha is the theme of this Donna Fox tour which gives visitors a different perspective on Armagh. Along the route Donna Fox recounts the stories of Ard Mhacha, the Celtic warrior queen and goddess, from whom Armagh takes its name. Visitors hear about her fateful curse on the men of Ulster and of Cu Chulainn, who escaped the curse and went on to defend Ulster against Queen Maebh of Connaught. The experience includes the added allure of visiting places that are not usually open to the public and learning to write in the ancient Ogham script.

Land, Water and Sea

Experiences that are ‘rooted’ in a specific place will connect visitors more strongly to our dramatic landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes. Physical challenges, ‘getting away from it all’, contact with wildlife and explorations of geology or architecture can enrich the visitors’ experience of a place. Using food and drink that comes from our Land, Sea and Water showcases our traditions and provenance and how we are working towards sustainability.

Aquaholics - Giant Shipwrecks of the North Coast

The Aquaholics - Giant Shipwrecks of the North Coast is a boat trip that takes visitors into a hidden aspect of the Causeway Coast, revealing the stories of the many ships, including the Spanish treasure ship Girona, that have wrecked in these treacherous waters.

Tourism Northern Ireland’s Arts, Culture and Heritage in Tourism Toolkit contains an exercise on using the Inspirers.

The Awakeners

Profound experiences where arts, culture and heritage come into their own

The Awakeners are about awakening a Giant Spirit in visitors. They focus the potential of travel experiences to affect people deeply and have a lasting, even life-changing, impact.

Using the Awakeners will help our brand stand out internationally and ensure that visitors will remember and talk about their experiences in Northern Ireland.

Arts, culture and heritage people who are skilled in working with meaningful stories and peoples’ responses to them can be particularly important in delivering the Awakeners.

For more on the Awakeners go to Tourism Northern Ireland’s Experience Development Toolkit.