{"id":825781,"date":"2026-03-14T18:21:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T18:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/825781\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T18:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T18:21:17","slug":"northern-ireland-events-industry-leaders-unite-to-focus-on-tourism-growth-and-event-safety-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/825781\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Ireland events industry leaders unite to focus on tourism growth and event safety regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Industry professionals from Northern Ireland’s events, hospitality and tourism sectors convened at the W5 Lecture Theatre in Belfast for the first-ever Northern Ireland Event Summit, hosted by Eventsec in partnership with Belsonic<\/a>, Aiken Promotions, MCD, the PSNI<\/a>, ICC Belfast \/ Waterfront Hall<\/a>, Belfast City Council<\/a> and the Odyssey Trust.<\/p>\n

The summit united sector specialists, regulators, public authorities and event planners to examine the future of event management in Northern Ireland, with conversations centring on safety, regulation, placemaking and how major events contribute to economic development.<\/p>\n

The agenda included a range of expert-led panel discussions addressing critical subjects such as large-scale events and urban regeneration, licensing and regulatory compliance, event safety and duty of care, and operational excellence in event delivery. Among those on the panel were Superintendent Alistair Hagan (PSNI)<\/a>, Kerry McMullan (Belfast City Council), \u00c1ine Kearney (Tourism NI),<\/a> Charlie McCluskey and Rob McConnell (ICC Belfast \/ Waterfront Hall<\/a>), Michael Stewart (Belfast Night Czar), Colin Neill (Hospitality Ulster), Janice Gault (Northern Ireland Hotels Federation), Tony Callaghan (Eventsec), Jim Clarke (Aiken Promotions), Alan Simms (Belsonic),<\/a> Kevin Gamble (F\u00e9ile an Phobail)<\/a>, Claire Cosgrave and Jenny Penrose (Odyssey Trust), Damien McGeady (Lacey Solicitors), Ali McFarlane (Sugar Rush) and David Graham (PR Consultant).<\/p>\n

BBC presenter Stephen Watson chaired the summit.<\/p>\n

Industry experts shared perspectives on how significant events can boost tourism, strengthen Northern Ireland’s global standing and drive sustainable economic and cultural growth.<\/p>\n

Attendees also heard from figures across the events and safety industries, including Eventsec, Belfast City Council, the PSNI and sector professionals engaged in organising and executing large-scale events throughout the region.<\/p>\n

Alan Simms from Belsonic said:. “The purpose of this summit is to highlight the importance of collaboration between event organisers, venues, local authorities and safety professionals to ensure Northern Ireland continues to deliver world-class events safely and successfully. Our events sector delivers a substantial boost to the local economy whilst supporting jobs, tourism and Northern Ireland’s international reputation.”<\/p>\n

He added: “This is a sector with enormous potential for further growth. By bringing together industry leaders and decision-makers, we can share knowledge, strengthen partnerships and ensure Northern Ireland continues to develop as a leading destination for major events.”<\/p>\n

Event organisers stated the summit seeks to create a lasting platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration throughout the sector, underpinning the continued expansion and professionalism of Northern Ireland’s events industry.<\/p>\n

The inaugural summit wrapped up with a round-up session reflecting on the day’s central themes and the prospects facing the region’s thriving events and tourism sector.<\/p>\n

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage <\/b>here<\/a><\/b> and <\/b>sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a><\/b> here.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Industry professionals from Northern Ireland’s events, hospitality and tourism sectors convened at the W5 Lecture Theatre in Belfast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":825782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[237282,5813,237285,237283,237284,1144,1618,237286,49436,16,15,2379],"class_list":{"0":"post-825781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-aiken-promotions","9":"tag-belfast-city-council","10":"tag-icc-belfast","11":"tag-industry-professionals","12":"tag-major-events","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-psni","15":"tag-sector-professionals","16":"tag-tourism-sector","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-waterfront-hall"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116228921812615480","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}