As the summer has rolled round, it’s been brilliant to see so many tourists and visitors flocking to the city and region! With a brilliant mix of bars and restaurants, quality hotels, and plenty of visitor attractions, it’s not hard to understand why so many people want to visit the North West.

It’s also easy to see why Derry has been named one of Europe’s ‘leading festival and events destinations’ and is in the running for a prestigious tourism industry award!

The city has been nominated in the 2023 World Travel Awards for its festival and events – including the Foyle Maritime Festival, the Jazz Festival and Halloween celebrations. Other cities in the running include Barcelona, Budapest, London, Venice, and Dublin.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the World Travel Awards seeks to identify and reward excellence across the entire Travel & Tourism sector from every corner of the globe. Competing in the European category of the awards, Derry has been nominated for the ‘Europe’s Leading Festival and Event’s Destination’ award.

Head of culture at Derry City and Strabane District Council, Aeidin McCarter, said she was delighted to announce the nomination and encouraged everyone to get online and vote.

“We are thrilled to be in the running for Europe’s Leading Festival and Events Destination alongside other amazing cities across the continent including Cannes and Barcelona. We pride ourselves on our festivals and love to deliver world-class events all year round. With the help of organisations across the city, we put on excellent parades, festivals, concerts, and everything in between and we really feel like we are the best destination for festivals and events in Europe. We have first class entertainment, accommodation to suit everyone and our food offering is top class – we really do have it all.”

Odhran Dunne, Chief Executive at Visit Derry, also said, “As the city’s destination management organisation, to be nominated in this category alone is amazing and we are delighted to be in the running against some other well-known tourism destinations. The work and passion that goes into the festival and events in the city and region as well as the connections and partnerships that we have created from doing so are second-to-none and deserves to be recognised. An extraordinary amount of work goes into putting on our events and festivals, so it is great to be able to showcase it on this global stage.”

The landmark 30th anniversary Europe Gala Ceremony 2023 will be staged in Batumi, Georgia in September with leading travel industry figureheads from across the continent flying in for the must-attend VIP event. Best of luck to Team Derry at the awards!