Neighbourhood Tourism Investment Programme Guidelines

Published in September 2024

Contents

1. Introduction and background
2. Programme overview
3. Programme timeframe
4. Expressions of interest
5. Data Protection and Privacy
Appendix 1: Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

1. Introduction and background

Belfast City Council’s ten-year tourism strategy, Make Yourself at Home (MYAH), commits to developing a Neighbourhood Tourism Investment Programme, recognising that strong opportunities exist to share tourism’s economic benefits beyond the city centre and contribute to inclusive citywide growth in line with the aspirations of the Belfast Agenda and ultimately, to the aims of tourism delivery within Belfast city region.

To achieve this, a pilot Neighbourhood Tourism Investment Programme ('the Programme'), has been designed to develop and enhance tourism experiences across the city, sharing and distributing the benefits of a vibrant tourism sector throughout local neighbourhoods and optimising investment in Belfast Stories, the city’s new £100 million visitor attraction (opening 2030). Informed by extensive research and engagement with stakeholders across the city, this pilot programme aims to:

• Identify needs, gaps and opportunities for tourism experiences to drive increased visitor footfall, dwell time and spend in local neighbourhoods.
• Provide short term support to develop authentic and financially sustainable new cultural tourism experiences, or enhancements to existing offers, which will bring vitality to local neighbourhoods, local residents and visitors.
• Encourage the development of plans which build capacity for city neighbourhoods to connect to the broader tourism offer, enabling local communities to become part of the Belfast visitor experience.
• Promote enhanced visitor dwell time and attract increased visitors from outside the Belfast City Council area, extending the economic benefits of tourism beyond the city centre.
• In time, extend the journey of visitors to Belfast Stories, thereby encouraging further exploration of its narratives across wider city neighbourhoods.

2. Programme overview

Belfast City Council welcomes applications from tourism experience providers, or from consortia of multiple organisations, based within the council area and proposing to develop or deliver market-led, authentic, high quality visitor offers with potential to create positive, regenerative impacts upon the local area. The council particularly welcomes proposals which will enhance or amplify existing tourism assets or narratives and address current sectoral gaps, including the night-time economy, Sunday mornings and shoulder season. Successful projects should also endeavour to be as accessible, authentic and as inclusive as possible and should reflect cognisance of best practice with regard to Tourism NI and Visit Belfast market segmentation.

Applicants to the Programme may avail of support under either or both of these strands:

Strand 1

Strand 1 comprises business support and mentoring to build skills and capacity to develop, deliver and grow tourism experiences, together with tailored, specialist support to develop more mature visitor offers. Offering support to start, grow or scale up businesses at various stages of development, this strand is delivered via the Go Succeed programme in collaboration with the council’s Enterprise and Business Growth team. New or existing tourism providers may apply.

Strand 1 Application process

The Expression of Interest (EOI) form should be completed and returned as instructed. The EOI is intended to help the council identify interest in the sector for access to business support. The Go Succeed team will contact you to progress your application for support. You may also apply to be considered for Strand 2 support if you meet eligibility criteria.

Strand 2

This strand offers financial support for new or enhanced tourism experiences, commissioned via a quotation process, with contracts awarded for three categories of projects up to the value of £5,000, £15,000 and £30,000, which must be completed by March 2026. Contracts of a maximum amount of £30,000 will be awarded under each award category, with a maximum total investment of £90,000 in this call. It is anticipated that a further open call will be issued under this programme in this financial year.

To be eligible to apply for this strand, applicants will be required to submit proposals for tourism experiences which will promote increased visitor footfall, dwell time and spend in a neighbourhood or neighbourhoods and meet specified programme criteria.

This is a flexible pilot investment programme, responsive to the ideas and opportunities of the tourism market. The level of award of each commission will be based on the volume and perceived value of the proposals to the council. Awards of varying levels will be made on a case-by-case basis, in line with market needs; for example, in the category for projects up to £5,000, 30 contracts of £1,000 value or six contracts of £5,000 value may be issued, or of otherwise varying amounts until the £30,000 is expended.

Belfast City Council strongly welcomes applications from partnerships and consortia. Although not mandatory, joint applications are preferred. All partners must be based within the Belfast City Council area.

Further information on eligibility criteria, scoring and frequently asked questions is available at Appendix 1.

Strand 2 Application process

Please complete and return an Expression of Interest form, including details regarding your eligibility, any project partners/consortia members and your outline project proposal and cost.

Proposals will then be sought for eligible projects proposals via a quotation process. Based upon the information provided, the council will identify projects which have most potential to meet the aspirations of the investment programme, with contracts to be awarded up to a maximum value of £5,000, £15,000 and £30,000.  

Funding Band 1: Proposals up to £5,000

Proposals are sought from new or existing sole traders or small enterprises providing tourism experiences.

Proposals may include a combination of these elements:

• New or enhanced visitor experience
• Project has progressed beyond concept or scoping stage
• May include activity to pilot or feasibility test a visitor experience
• Will de-risk the time required for development and delivery and resources to test the market
• Costs of small equipment items necessary to develop or deliver a visitor experience
• Costs of training personnel to develop or deliver a visitor experience

 Funding Band 2: Proposals up to £15,000

Proposals are sought from existing tourism providers to deliver new or enhanced tourism experiences.

Submissions should:

• Meet an existing market gap or visitor need.
• Develop or deliver a new themed visitor experience, or
• Consolidate and expand existing visitor experience.
• Provide an experience which may extend into other neighbourhoods, incorporating the authentic stories of other local areas into the offer.

Funding Band 3: Proposals up to £30,000

Collaborative proposals are sought from partnerships comprised of organisations from two or more neighbourhoods within the city. Partnership proposals may be focused on either new experiences or enhancement of existing experiences.

Proposed projects should:

• Consider delivery across more than one neighbourhood.
• Be delivered in shoulder season or Sundays.
• Provide opportunity to enhance the connectivity of our visitor offer.
• Enhance a seamless experience for visitors to the city.

3. Programme timeframe

The timeframe envisaged for development and delivery of the Neighbourhood Tourism Investment Programme is shown in the table.

4. Expressions of interest

Applicants are asked to complete the EOI questionnaire and submit online by 3pm on Friday 4 October 2024. Late applications will not be accepted.

If you have any queries regarding this process, email [email protected] before 12 noon on Wednesday 2 October 2024. We will endeavour to respond as quickly as possible.

5. Data Protection and Privacy

Privacy notice

What we do with your information

The council is the data controller under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) for the personal data it gathers for the purposes of Expression of Interest to the new Neighbourhood Tourism Investment Programme and engagement as key stakeholders in relation to work carried out by the Tourism Development Unit; to consult your views on our projects and corporate initiatives; and to notify you of events and activities in our city.

The council accepts that you are providing your personal data under UK GDPR 6, 1 (a) Consent: that you have given clear consent to process your personal data for a specific purpose and are positively agreeing for the council to do so for the purposes of administering and managing any future contact for your interaction with Belfast City Council’s Tourism Development Unit. Additionally, the council is relying on 6, 1 (e) Public task: the processing is necessary to perform a task in the public interest or for the council's official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.

Sharing your information with others

Your personal data may be shared internally within the council with staff who are involved in providing this service and where necessary, between internal departments with the purpose of supporting an effective delivery of service.

Your personal data will not be shared or disclosed to any other organisation without your consent, unless the law permits or places an obligation on the council to do so. 

How long we hold your information

The personal data is held and stored by the council for a period of three years in a safe and secure manner and in compliance with data protection legislation and in line with the council’s Records Retention and Disposal Schedule.

Further information

If you have any queries regarding the processing of your personal data or wish to withdraw your consent to the processing of it, contact [email protected]  or write to: The Cecil Ward Building, 4-10 Linenhall Street, Belfast BT2 8BP.

If you wish to contact the council’s Data Protection Officer, write to Belfast City Council, City Hall, Belfast, BT1 5GS or email  [email protected].

For further information on how Belfast City Council processes personal data, read our Privacy policy.

Appendix 1: Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Programme Parameters

What is the purpose of the programme?

This is a pilot programme to support the development of tourism experiences which drive increased footfall, spend and dwell time in neighbourhoods across Belfast.

Successful projects should:

• Be authentically Belfast
• Attract visitors, with a primary focus on visitors from areas outside the Belfast City Council area.
• Sustainable (ability of market to sustain the experience and not ongoing subvention).
• Connects to MYAH themes: Grow, Position Experience and Sustain
• Connects to the ambitions of Belfast Stories
• Demonstrate potential for neighbourhood regeneration (physical, social and economic)
• Demonstrate potential to drive economic benefit across the city

What support will it offer?

Two strands of support are available:

• Business Support
• Financial Support

Business Support provides:

• Support from the Go Succeed service to start, grow or scale your tourism business
• Specific tailored support for more mature tourism projects
• Signposting to other sources of support relevant to business need

Financial Support

• Contracts will be awarded through a quotation process for three project funding bands:
  • Funding Band 1: projects costing up to £5,000
  • Funding Band 2: projects costing up to £15,000
  • Funding Band 3: projects costing up to  £30,000
• The council may not make an award for the full amount of costs applied for.
• Contract duration from date of award in early 2025 until the end of March 2026.
• Small grants of up to £4,000 are available through the Go Succeed service (subject to eligibility). This can be used for marketing costs.
• No match funding is required but note that the council may not award the full project cost applied for
• A second small call for projects is anticipated in this financial year

What are the programme criteria?

To be eligible for Business Support, applicants must:

• be based in the Belfast City Council area
• have a business activity (or proposed activity) which is visitor-focused

To be eligible to bid for Financial Support, bidders (and any partners) must:

• be based in the Belfast City Council area
• have a proposal which aims to enhance the visitor experience in Belfast
• have some knowledge and experience of tourism development.
• for partnership proposals, all partners must have either knowledge and experience of tourism development, or representing or developing neighbourhood interests.
• for partnership proposals, a lead partner must submit the bid and lead delivery of the project for the duration of the contract.
• have in place, or undertake to put in place, minimum public and employer's liability insurance provision (as required)

What are the assessment criteria for programme proposals?

1. Proposals must demonstrate that the project will:

• deliver a visitor experience that encapsulates authentic stories about the local people or place that are not well known or that bring a different perspective to the familiar and that would be of interest to visitors.
• be market-led and likely to captivate one or more key market segments, with the content and delivery tailored to the intended audience and consideration given to accessibility.
• be visibly marketed, repeated and bookable, with information available all year round (even if it is only available seasonally)
• consider the whole visitor experience (for example how the visitor will access information, how to get there, where they will eat, drink, shop, take photographs and other nearby offers)
• have the potential to be commercially or financially viable and will not require ongoing funding after the contract ends.
• create a positive impact upon the local neighbourhood and its people.
• measure project impact and take part in the council’s evaluation process.

2. Project plan

You should provide a detailed description of how you intend to deliver the project through clearly defined stages.

3. Project management

Your proposal should demonstrate how you will ensure that the project is delivered on time, within budget and to the expected quality, with risk management approach to be detailed.

4. Partnership working

While not mandatory, partnership proposals will be preferred; proposals should demonstrate how partners will work together to develop and deliver the project.

5. Cost

A clear breakdown of your budget should be provided to demonstrate that your project has potential to be financially viable and commercially sustainable.

What areas of the city will the programme invest in?

Applications will be considered from all areas within the Belfast City Council area.

Can applicants from outside Belfast apply to this programme?

All partners must be based within the Belfast City Council area.

Are there any specific project themes or stories that the programme will prioritise?

This programme will fund high quality visitor offers based upon authentic stories about the local people or place that are not well known or that bring a different perspective to the familiar and that would be of interest to visitors and are connected to MYAH themes: Grow, Position Experience and Sustain.

We welcome applications which may address current gaps and challenges, including lack of things to do in the evenings Sunday mornings, shoulder season, share stories, signpost to or support our physical tourism assets, including cemeteries and historic buildings.

Can I apply for support for more than one project?

Capacity to deliver more than one project would need to be demonstrated. This will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Who can apply for Go Succeed and tailored business support?

Read the programme eligibility criteria for business support.

Who can apply for financial support?

Read the programme eligibility criteria for financial support.

Can I apply for funding to enhance an existing tourism experience?

Yes. If your enhanced visitor experience demonstrates clear additionality and aligns with the criteria of the programme. 

How can I source a partner organisation for my application?

• Applicants should research and source suitable partners for proposed projects if relevant.
• Opportunity may also be provided through Go Succeed to connect with appropriate partner organisations.

Who will deliver the business support?

Support will be provided by the council’s Enterprise and Business Growth team, with knowledge and expertise sourced from the Economic Development Unit and external providers with sectoral expertise.

How do I apply for Business Support?

• The Enterprise and Business Growth team will be in attendance at information sessions from 17 to 19 September. Applicants can discuss their needs and receive support with the registration process.
• Applicants should complete and submit the online expression of interest form to the council by 3pm on Friday 4 October 2024.
• The Enterprise and Business Growth team will then be in touch to further assess your business needs.

How do I apply for financial support?

• Bidders should complete and submit the online expression of interest form to the council by 3pm on Friday 4 October 2024.
• The council will then open a quotation process.

How do I apply for tailored support for my specific tourism experience?

Support may be provided after a discussion of your business needs with the Enterprise and Business Growth team.

What is the timeframe for programme delivery?

All projects must be delivered by 31 March 2026.

Are capital works eligible for funding, for example building or infrastructural works?

Capital works are not eligible for funding.

Is equipment eligible for funding?

Some equipment costs may be considered if essential to development or delivery of the visitor experience.

Are project management costs eligible for funding?

Project management costs are eligible to aid experience development.

Are staff costs eligible for funding, for example managing bookings; managing social media and marketing; visitor servicing; data capture and analysis; tour guides?

Core staff costs are not be eligible under the Neighbourhood Tourism Investment Programme.Some staff costs may be eligible to develop the proposed visitor experience. This will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. 

Are events eligible for funding?

Proposals for events or similar programming are not eligible. Grant support is available from other Belfast City Council sources.

Are marketing and promotion eligible for funding?

Marketing and promotion are eligible and assessed on a case-by-case basis

I already receive funding from Belfast City Council. Can I apply to this programme?

Bids will not be eligible if this proposed tourism project is currently in receipt of funding from Belfast City Council.

I already receive funding from sources other than Belfast City Council. Can I apply to this programme?

This will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Can I apply for a project which will make a profit?

Yes. The programme aims to support viable, financially sustainable visitor experiences. No further funding will be available.

Can I apply directly to Go Succeed for support?

You may apply directly to Go Succeed for business support.

Can I apply for both Go Succeed support and apply for Investment Support?

You may apply for both sources of support through this programme.