Embrace a Giant Spirit Arts, Culture & Heritage Experience Development Programme

Northern Ireland has a rich heritage and well-earned reputation for music and literature. Some of our finest works and performers, covering many genres, have reached all parts of the globe. But the stories and the talent are here and are inspirers for our Northern Ireland - Embrace a Giant Spirit brand. Now is the time to develop them and share them with our visitors on home ground.

As part of our ambition to further enhance the destination as a place for authentic culture and heritage, we want to increase the availability of innovative and demand generating tourism experiences across Northern Ireland.  We are therefore inviting music and literature providers to attend an online information session on Wednesday, 6th December 2023, 10.30am-12pm.

Purpose

This session will provide insights into an exciting new opportunity, aimed at supporting providers to craft compelling music and literature experiences that can persuade domestic and global customers to participate, visit, stay and return to Northern Ireland.

Format

To facilitate attendance by as many providers as possible, the initial information session will take place virtually via a Zoom link.

Participants

Please note that this programme is open to early learner and experienced participants who wish to develop market-ready music and literature tourism experiences for Northern Ireland. This includes:

  • providers/businesses that have never worked in tourism with the potential to deliver a compelling music and/or literature related experience.
  • an existing business (already known to Tourism Northern Ireland) but one that has not been supported through previous programmes including NI Embrace a Giant Spirit Framework, NI Spirit Trail (Distillery Programme), Historic Houses & Gardens Programme and the current Food & Drink Development Programme.
  • Expressions of interest are particularly welcomed from experiences that have the potential to improve levels of activity at off-peak times, support the evening economy, as well as drive greater regional spread. Current research suggests lower levels of culture and heritage experiences exist in Counties Fermanagh, Tyrone, Armagh and Derry ~ Londonderry and depending on the volume of applications, priority may be given to expressions from these areas.

Context

The experiences that emerge via this programme will complement a broad offer of activities and tourism experiences that are already available for purchase in Northern Ireland, ranging from outdoor activity and adventure to food and drink and wellness experiences.

Collectively, these experiences must be of a premier standard that showcase Northern Ireland and can attract bookings from customers with diverse needs and interests such as individuals, couples, families, adventurers, golfers, culture and heritage enthusiasts, foodies, special-interest individuals/groups and inter-generational groups.

The experiences that emerge via this programme will:

  • Align with Tourism Northern Ireland’s Embrace a Giant Spirit branding and experience development guidelines. 
  • Adopt Northern Ireland’s sustainability principles and guidelines for tourism businesses, mindful of approaches that:
    • safeguards the environment: showcasing Northern Ireland’s natural beauty while ensuring that the environment is protected for contemporary and future generations,
    • safeguards the community: working in a harmonious partnership with the local community to celebrate and preserve habits, customs and traditions,
    • safeguards livelihoods: generating economic benefits for the provider that extend into the wider economy.

What will happen on Wednesday, 6th December 2023, 10.30am-12pm?

This information session will include the following:

  • An insight into why culture and heritage experiences (and specifically music and literature) are key for Northern Ireland
  • The framework, purpose, and expectations of the programme.
  • Outcomes and sample experiences anticipated from the programme.
  • Requirements and criteria for progression into the programme.
  • Programme dates for the diary
  • A Q&A session to address queries.

Who should attend?

The sole focus is on creating compelling music and/or literature experiences which could encompass (but is not limited) to the following:

  • Offer engaging, multi-sensory experiences that involve visitors in learning new skills e.g. how to write a poem, short story, play an instrument, see how a recording session works and even try to mix your own session.
  • Highlight the spectacular natural settings, heritage, and cultural landscapes through the stories of Northern Ireland’s music and literature.
  • Meeting a provider: e.g., an author, a poet, a musician
  • Guided experiences: e.g., music or literature tours (both urban & rural)
  • Multidisciplinary/ soft adventure experiences: e.g., walking/cycling music or literature tours
  • Music and literature experiences for diverse customer types: e.g., from general interest to ultra luxury.
  • Music and literature experiences in unusual locations: e.g., heritage locations, on boat trips etc.
  • Experiences that take place at various times: e.g., from early morning to during the day and into the evening and night-time economy
  • Accessible experiences, inclusive of people of all ages and abilities

NB: all providers who participate in this programme must have an experience that is based in Northern Ireland and all participants must be able to supply proof of address in Northern Ireland. 

What will the next steps be?

Successful participants that meet the criteria will need to be available for a participants group session on Tuesday, 16th January 2024 (full day in person session, with the venue location to be confirmed).

The programme will run from January - March 2024 to include training, mentoring and market testing on scheduled dates.

The expression of interest for this programme is now closed.