Text-to-speech reader:
Today’s traveller is accustomed to being able to do practically anything from their mobile device; from booking flights, checking in, and booking hotel rooms, unlocking their hotel room door, ordering room service, accessing information, booking experiences, sharing these with their peers and sharing their opinions instantly on review websites.
The development and implementation of a new or improved product, service, model, or process which is novel (significantly different), and has/will be introduced to the market (product/service) or implemented within the business (process, model) creating value.
Innovation is hugely important for business survival. Businesses must innovate to adapt and grow in a competitive marketplace. As products become outdated quickly and customer preferences change. Your business will have a better chance of survival if it implements an innovation management system to continuously bring new ideas to market.
Continuous improvement at Titanic Belfast drives digital innovation, focusing on seamless experiences for visitors through mobile ticketing, digital maps and multi-media guides provided in different languages.
Innovation is central to the experience at the Gaol, continuing with the 2023 completion of a digital project to enhance the self-guided visitor experience which includes holograms to bring the history to life and an AR Zone for visitors to fully immerse themselves into the Gaol when it was a working prison.
The Innovate NI Innovation Programme has four distinct elements:
This helps you find out how innovative your business is. Enter the details of your innovation activities and you’ll find your current position on the Innovation Framework and you’ll receive recognition of your achievements. You can repeat the Innovation Assessment as your idea develops to ensure your recognition level is accurate.
The Innovation Framework provides a pathway to bring your idea from concept to market. Many business have a lot of good ideas, but they can only create value if they reach commercialisation or implementation.
We have developed four innovation recognition levels that correspond with the four steps in the innovation management framework – Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. On completion of each step in the framework, you’ll receive a certificate and promotional materials from the Department for the Economy.
Innovation management is a structured process to ensure business continuously follows the principles of innovation. By integrating innovation management into the culture of your organisation, your business will be more competitive, profitable and resilient.
Innovate NI case studies highlight how businesses are using the Innovation Framework to create new products, services and processes.
Both of these documents highlight the importance of innovation.
The Draft Tourism Strategy identifies the strategic future direction needed to realise tourism’s already vital contribution to the Department for the Economy’s ‘10x Vision: A Decade of Innovation’; the outcome of which will ultimately see Northern Ireland positioned amongst the elite small advanced economies in the world, and the benefits of this change felt by all of our people.
Tourism Strategy for Northern Ireland | 10 Year Plan (economy-ni.gov.uk)
The Department for the Economy’s economic vision, ‘10x Economy - an Economic Vision for a Decade of Innovation”, seeks to set a long term vision for the Northern Ireland economy to deliver a ten times better economy. The outcome of this vision will ultimately see Northern Ireland positioned amongst the elite small advanced economies in the world, and the benefits of this change felt by all of our people. A 10X Economy - A 10x Economy (economy-ni.gov.uk)
Titanic Belfast opened in 2012 with the aim of establishing Belfast as the home of RMS Titanic, celebrating the city’s maritime and industrial heritage, and showing that the spirit that built Titanic remains today.
Since then, the visitor attraction has gone from strength to strength on a local, national and international level. A £4.5m large-scale refreshment of the Titanic Experience, completed in partnership with Maritime Belfast Trust in 2023, was designed to deliver a world-class spectacle, enabling the attraction to continue to drive visitors to Belfast and Northern Ireland while enhancing the interpretive and interactive experience in an innovative way for future generations.
The project helps the Titanic story to come to life in a new immersive way, incorporating innovative new technology whilst also including authentic storytelling, animation, music and more. An illuminated 7.6m long scale model of RMS Titanic is suspended from the ceiling and fully rotates, known as ‘The Ship of Dreams’.
Continuous improvement at Titanic Belfast drives digital innovation, focusing on seamless experiences for visitors through mobile ticketing, digital maps and multi-media guides provided in different languages. Social sustainability is an important consideration throughout, partnering with local businesses where possible and creating jobs across these companies.
Crumlin Road Gaol is Northern Ireland’s only remaining Victorian era prison. Having closed in 1996 it was re-opened as a visitor attraction in 2012, designed to allow visitors to gain a unique and memorable insight into 150 years of history surrounding the daily lives and routines of both prisoners and staff.
Innovation is central to the experience at the Gaol, continuing with the 2023 completion of a digital project to enhance the self-guided visitor experience which includes holograms to bring the history to life and an AR Zone for visitors to fully immerse themselves into the Gaol when it was a working prison.
Audio Guides are also available to help customers navigate their way around the 13-acre site. To enhance the inclusiveness of their self-guided offer, content is offered in 6 languages and there is also a facility to allow British Sign Language allowing material to be interpreted via sign videos and making the tour more accessible.
For over thirty years, the historic estate of Brook Hall located on the banks of the River Foyle has actively committed to researching and promoting renewable energy, environmental, and landscape management strategies to achieve genuine sustainability and inspire behavioural change; becoming the first heritage landscape in Northern Ireland to be measurably beyond carbon neutral.
Keen to share the impact of their sustainability practices, David Gilliland, the sixth generation living at Brook Hall, developed a series of innovative tourism experiences which take visitors on a journey through the heritage, nature, and sustainability of the demesne. Experiences include a guided tour of the willow farm and biomass processing facilities followed by a series of experimental activities across the wider estate and gardens, exploring the soil health and biodiversity within the landscape along the way.
Tourism NI partnered with Innovate NI on Innovate Tourism, a series of regional interactive workshops designed to demonstrate the importance of innovation to your business’s future success and how to embed innovation in day to day operations, creating value and enhancing the visitor experience. Find out more about these events in this short video.