Orange Order’s vital tourism role boosted by conference

Among those to attend from the Orange Order in the Londonderry catchment was the Deputy County Grand Master, George Duddy, who heralded the conference as vital to the process of garnering feedback and benchmarking the Order’s performance particularly in regard to the Flagship Twelfths initiative, which had been proven not only to boost the celebration’s profile and increase tourism footfall, but had also resulted in a boost to the local economy wherever it was held.

Stressing that the Order did not benefit financially from the Flagship Twelfth initiative, Mr Duddy said: “Over the last number of years interest in the Twelfth has grown considerably and new approaches to outreach have allowed us to adopt an inter-agency approach and involve community groups and organisations.”

The Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, Edward Stevenson, who was also at the conference, said the flagship initiative had led to a higher profile for the Twelfth.

“We have also seen increasing confidence and capability being developed through our Welcome Host programme,” he said.

“We are delighted that so many who are not members of the institution, ladies and young people, have given of their time to focus on the tourist and the visitor during the Twelfth festivals. The Grand Lodge is committed to ensuring that our Twelfth festivals, attracting at least 500,000 participants and spectators including overseas and GB visitors, have something to offer for the tourist industry and the Northern Ireland economy. We welcome the continued support of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Tourism Ireland.”