Derry and Strabane records major tourism growth in 2025
28 May 2026
The Derry City and Strabane District Council area enjoyed a bumper tourism year in 2025, according to new figures from NISRA that showed substantial growth in overnight visitors, nights stayed and visitor spend across the district.
The latest figures released this week by NISRA indicated that the Derry and Strabane area welcomed 399,478 overnight trips during 2025, generating a total visitor spend of £93,579,475.
Compared with 2024, overnight trips to the district increased by 35%, while the number of nights visitors stayed rising by 28% to 1,206,934 and visitor expenditure also growing, increasing by 13.5%.
This strong performance significantly outpaces the Northern Ireland average, where overnight trips grew by 9% over the same period. The figures represent substantial progress towards the ambitions of the city and districts Tourism Strategy ambition, which focused on increasing visitor spend, supporting employment and strengthening the destination offering.
The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Ruairí McHugh said the continued growth highlights our increasing reputation as a leading destination for leisure, culture, events and short breaks, with visitors continuing to extend their stays and contribute strongly to the local economy.
He said: “These figures are hugely encouraging and reflect the growing appeal of our city and district as a world-class tourism destination. To see overnight trips increase by 35% in a single year, significantly ahead of the average across the North, is a tremendous achievement for everyone involved in our tourism and hospitality sector. From our vibrant cultural offering and internationally recognised events programme to our stunning landscapes, heritage and warm welcome, more visitors are choosing Derry and Strabane and, importantly, they are staying longer and spending more while they are here.”
Odhran Dunne, Chief Executive with Visit Derry has also welcomed the statistics. He said: “The latest tourism figures are a fantastic endorsement of the strength of the city and district's investment in its tourism offering and the collaborative approach taken by Visit Derry and the local industry to promote the destination in key national and international markets. We have continued to see strong demand for the destination in our top source markets aligned to quality accommodation, authentic visitor experiences, world-class events, our food and hospitality offering, and the unique story of our city and district. The significant growth in overnight trips and visitor spend demonstrates the importance of the relationships with national and international travel trade and targeted sales and campaign activity to maximise the potential of the destination to compete in a highly competitive tourism marketplace.”
Jennifer O’Donnell, Tourism Manager with Derry City and Strabane District Council said: “Tourism continues to play a vital role in supporting jobs, businesses and investment across the district, with almost £94 million generated in visitor spend during 2025. This growth reflects the ambition of the 2018–2025 Tourism Strategy and the success of collaborative delivery across Council, Visit Derry, industry partners and local businesses. We are currently developing a new Tourism Action Plan for 2026–2031 and this growth provides a strong foundation for more ambitious targets around visitor spend, length of stay and employment. These results give us real confidence that we are well positioned to continue to grow our share of the tourism market and deliver even greater economic benefit for the City and District.”
Recognising the role of improved connectivity in driving visitor growth, Steve Frazer, Managing Director at City of Derry Airport, highlighted the positive impact of expanded air services on the region’s tourism performance. He said: “The launch of easyJet services from Liverpool, Edinburgh and Birmingham between 2024 and 2025 contributed to a 23% increase in passenger numbers. This growth has been further supported by the increasingly popular Ryanair service from Manchester and the three-times-daily Loganair London Heathrow service, which connects 119 cities worldwide to the North West, alongside the year-round Glasgow service. A further 13% growth in passenger numbers was recorded from 2025 to 2026, and this trend looks set to continue with a new double-daily Dublin service launching later this year, further enhancing international access to the region.”
The latest NISRA figures for Northern Ireland recorded 5.1 million overnight trips in 2025, with associated expenditure of £1.2 billion across the region.