Award-winning Tall Ships event in Northern Ireland hailed

30 October 2009 -

This year's Tall Ships Challenge has been honoured at an awards ceremony recognising the most spectacular events in Northern Ireland's calendar.

The Belfast extravaganza took place this summer and saw over 800,000 people descend on the capital on the final day to see one of the most unique nautical events in Northern Ireland.

Now the spectacle is the double recipient of awards, after scooping the Best Event/Marketing Initiative at the Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards and picking up the Best Tourism/Hospitality Project of the Year at the UTV Business Eye Awards.

Councillor William Humphrey, chairman of Belfast City Council's development committee, said the gongs were "well deserved".

"The Tall Ships undoubtedly was a huge success, attracting the equivalent of half the population of Northern Ireland over the course of just four days, and this was a tribute to the fantastic work of the great event management skills we have here in Belfast," he explained.

Mr Humphrey recently said that Belfast will do everything in its power to ensure that the maritime events in Northern Ireland return in 2010.