It’s back! After a two-year pandemic break, Holiday World is returning to Belfast, ready to rock our world with an unrivalled choice of dazzling travel options at home and abroad.
The show which has been informing and inspiring local audiences for three decades will be setting imaginations alight at the TEC (Titanic Exhibition Centre) at Queen’s Road in Titanic Quarter, Belfast from 12:30 – 5:30pm on Friday 20 January and from 11:00am – 5:30pm on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 January 2023.
The return of Holiday World Belfast reflects the international upturn in travel and tourism as the sector’s post-pandemic recovery gathers pace and consumers rediscover their taste for travel. The three-day show will play host to international tourist boards, destinations, airlines, ferry companies, hotels and B&Bs, visitor attractions, travel agencies and a vast range of service providers. Pitching up alongside will be the Caravan & Motorhome Show, featuring the latest, most tempting models and declaring open season on just about every sort of holiday in the Great Outdoors, with fresh takes on camping, glamping, caravanning and park resorts at home and abroad.
As the effects of the pandemic recede, and confidence returns, consumers are once again keen to travel, but they are cautious about who they will trust with their precious holiday plans. In today’s cost-conscious environment savvy travellers are also looking for ways to make their holiday pound go further. Those key factors make Holiday World Belfast more relevant than ever before.
Show Director Maureen Ledwith says, “Travel professionals are predicting a huge surge in demand as we shake off lockdown lethargy and plan fresh getaways, from short breaks and annual family vacations to more ambitious trips to reunite with family and friends around the world. It seems we’re all eager to pack up and go and, as a result, we’re hungry for the latest info and inspiration direct from the experts. At Holiday World you get the chance to do your travel research face-to-face, chatting with sector professionals in a lively, fun-filled environment that’s all about getting into holiday mood. Everything is right there under one roof and, with so much competition on hand and so many special show-only offers on the go, bargain-hungry visitors know they can secure really keen prices and added value offers.”
Exhibitor and leading independent travel agent Sandra Corkin from Northern Ireland’s high profile Oasis Travel group agrees. She says, “Having gone without holidays or reduced their travelling over the past few years, consumers are less willing to compromise. They have waited a long time and now, as people return to travel, they are looking for holidays that really raise the bar: perfect planning is very much the order of the day! The sector has responded to that demand with an incredible variety of holiday styles as well as destinations and it is no exaggeration to say that there really is something for everyone, from budget breaks to life-changing travel experiences in some of the furthest-flung corners of the world.
“Holidays are not only a memory-making highpoint to the year, they also represent a sizable financial investment so consumers are – quite reasonably – looking for value coupled with professional expertise and reassurance. They want to know that their holiday investment is made with a business which will look after their interests whatever the circumstances and wherever in the world they may travel. Holiday World Belfast provides a fantastic forum in which to forge those connections.”
January is prime time for new product and destination launches so visitors to Holiday World Belfast will be tempted with fresh horizons as well as opportunities to rediscover favourite destinations … but sometimes the magic is surprisingly close to home, as the continued rise in the popularity of caravanning and park homes demonstrates.
Exhibitor and Director of Portstewart and Castlerock Holiday Parks, Terry O’Neill, says, “Northern Ireland has long enjoyed a love affair with caravanning, but this has risen to new heights in the past couple of years as families discovered that great, affordable holidays are right here on their own doorsteps … particularly welcome when international travel wasn’t an option.
“The easy-going sociability appeals across the generations and an investment in a caravan or park home is quickly repaid with easy, no-fuss access to a perfect home-from-home retreat that can be enjoyed by family and friends. Great times, great memories … and great value!”
Tickets to Holiday World Belfast cost £5 for adults; £4 for Senior Citizens and £3 for Students. A special family ticket gives admission for two adults and up to four children for £10 and a 2-for-1 ticket deal is available online at https://holidayworld.registrationdesk.ie/2-for-1-voucher/
