Despite inbound tourism figures holding steady, Northern Ireland’s tourism sector saw revenues jump £33m last year to £723m.

The latest government statistics show that a high-profile year – which saw the hosting of the G8 summit in Fermanagh and the recruitment of Liam Neeson to front a new marketing campaign – had little impact on Northern Ireland’s ability to attract greater numbers. The number of those visitors coming to Northern Ireland for a holiday was 632,000, virtually unchanged from 2012.

Meanwhile, the growth in revenues came largely from additional spending by people from Great Britain visiting friends and family.

The calendar year of 2013 also saw Giant's Causeway in County Antrim displace Titanic Belfast as the most popular attraction. The Causeway saw visitor numbers jump 44 per cent to 754,000, while Titanic Belfast had 604,000 visitors, down nine per cent on 2012.

Regardless of the stagnation in the number of holidaymakers attracted, Northern Irish tourism minister Arlene Foster welcomed the figures.

"Our key programme for government targets for visitor numbers and tourism revenue have been achieved for 2013,” she said.

"This keeps us on track to succeed with our goal to make tourism in Northern Ireland a £1bn industry by 2020."