‘Adrenaline junkies’ could provide tourism boost

Councillors were given a report on ‘Activity Tourism’ and the aim is to attract people interested in activities like water-based tourism, outdoor adventure, equestrian, canoeing, cycling, walking and even extreme adventure like abseiling, rockclimbing and diving.

Cllr Sharon McKillop said: “Adrenaline junkies are the people who will come here” and she praised the promotion of ‘activity tourism’.

The Council recently heard about plans to develop the north coast as a surfers’ paradise and now there is a push to develop new forms of tourism.

Cllr Colum Thompson said many tourists coming to Moyle look at the views, walk on the beach, and then get in the car and go home.

Cllr Seamus Blaney said ‘dog dirt’ would need to be cleaned from areas so as not to put tourists off.

Cllr Randal McDonnell said activity tourism is an “exciting development” because at the moment he said many people get on a bus in Dublin and go to the Giant’s Causeway “for five minutes” before returning south that night.

Cllr McDonnell said it is important to get tourists to spend money in north Antrim instead of just “driving through and cluttering the place with carbon dioxide”.

Cllr Robert McIlroy said the report on ‘Activity Tourism’ was one of the best papers to come before Moyle Council “for a long time”.

He added that the area has to be neat and tidy.

Council Chairperson, Cllr Padraig McShane, said they are well aware there are parts of council provision “we need to buck up our ideas on”.