Experience AND 2026/27

Ards and North Down Experience Development Programme

Trade Information

Turn a spark of an idea into a standout visitor experience – whether you need a sounding board, a clear way forward, or help to take a good experience from “fine” to fantastic, this is the programme for you.

Programme Overview

Ards and North Down Borough Council is inviting businesses to participate in a funded* Tourism Experience Programme designed to support the development, enhancement and commercialisation of new tourism products and experiences across the Borough.

The programme will enable participating businesses to create distinctive, bookable experiences that align with Tourism NI’s Embrace a Giant Spirit brand and local strategic priorities.

*T’s&C’s apply

Programme Offer

The programme is structured across two complementary strands:

Strand 1: Product Development and Mentoring

For businesses ready to develop a new or enhanced experience procured through an Expression of Interest (EOI):

• Tailored one-to-one mentoring support covering concept development, customer journey, pricing, operations and route to market.
• Access to market insights and gap analysis to ensure experiences respond to visitor needs.
• Support to design, test and pilot at least one market-ready experience between April 2026 and March 2027.
• Guidance on aligning offers with Tourism NI’s Embrace a Giant Spirit framework.

Please note: Places on Strand 1 are limited and will be allocated through a shortlisting process, following application, to ensure fit with identified programme objectives.

Strand 2: Capacity-Building Workshops

Open to all businesses in the Borough seeking to build knowledge, understanding and skills to plan and develop future visitor experience product.

You’ll gain access to practical tools and templates that participants can continue to use beyond the life of the programme.

Strand 2 consists of a series of six interactive workshops based on a clear product development framework, covering:

1. Market Opportunities and Customer Segments - Understand who your priority customers are by exploring NI visitor trends and defining the target markets your experience should focus on.
2. Aligning with the Embrace a Giant Spirit Brand - Learn what makes an experience truly “Embrace a Giant Spirit” and how to design product offerings that are authentic, big-hearted and original, rooted in local stories of land, water, sea and legend.
3. Ideas Generation and Uniqueness - Use mapping insights to generate and refine experience ideas, focusing on creating distinctive products that stand out in the Borough’s offer.
4. Customer Journey Mapping - Walk through your experience from your visitor’s perspective, identifying key “wow” moments, pain points and improvements to ensure a seamless, memorable journey.
5. Storycrafting for Experience Design - Develop compelling stories that express your local identity and authenticity, and form the foundation for how you present and market your experience.
6. Commercialising and Selling Your Story - Turn your developed idea into revenue by learning how to price for trade and consumer markets and choose the right channels to take your product to market.

Strand 2 - Capacity Building Workshops:

- 3rd February | Market Opportunities & Customer Segments
- 24th February | Aligning with the Embrace a Giant Spirit Brand
- 25th March | Ideas Generation & Uniqueness
- 14th April | Customer Journey Mapping
- 5th May | Story crafting for Experience Design
- 26th May | Commercialising & Selling Your Story

Benefits for Participating Businesses

Participating businesses can expect to:
• Develop new or enhanced tourism experiences that are commercially viable and market ready.
• Strengthen skills in experience design, pricing, storytelling, operations and marketing.
• Access structured one-to-one mentoring (Strand 1) and high-quality group learning (Strand 2).
• Build relationships and potential collaborations with other local tourism providers.
• A best practice learning journey, giving you the chance to see first-hand how a successful, market-ready experience operates. You’ll discover what worked, what didn’t, and how they continue to evolve and grow their offering. (Strand 1)