Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau (BVCB) has launched a major £1.2m marketing campaign supported by Belfast City Council to challenge traditional perceptions of Belfast.

The new initiative builds on the successful Belfast Better Believe It campaign, launched earlier this year and centres on a new television advertisement targeting the lucrative 25- to 40-year-old market.

It focuses on the experience of exploring the city and aims to reflect its growing reputation as an ideal short break destination.

BVCB hopes to encourage people who may not often visit Belfast to take a fresh look at what the city has to offer.

Gerry Lennon, chief executive of BVCB, said: “More and more people are coming into the city, shopping, eating out or taking in some of our excellent visitor attractions.

“Last year the number of visitors staying overnight in Belfast rose by 25 per cent to almost a million and this campaign is part of a continued aggressive marketing strategy designed to encourage that trend.”

He added that in 1999 the organisation set a target of a 100 per cent increase in visitor numbers and spend over a seven- to 10-year period but that indications for 2004 show BVCB is set to achieve it two years ahead of schedule.

CastleCourt Shopping Centre is providing private sector funding for the campaign, while BCVB is funded by Belfast City Council and NITB, and sponsored by Diageo NI.