Giant's Causeway centre prices criticised

Published Wednesday, 08 August 2012
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The new £18.5m Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre has been dividing opinion since it opened due to its pricing policy.

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It currently costs £8.50 (£4.25 for children) or £21 per family for admission to the visitor centre, which allows customers access to a cafe, shop, exhibition, toilets and changing facilities.

This also gets a ticketpayer an audio guide for the walk and car parking.

There is no access to any of the facilities at the centre without paying the admission fee.

It is still free to visit the ancient basalt stones and walk along the coastal site, but some have complained that this is not made clear by the National Trust.

Although most are postive, a significant number of reviews of the multimillion pound centre on website Tripadvisor are less than complimentary, with reviewers daubing the centre, "rip-off", "underwhelming" and even "embarrassing".

DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr said the centre is a "must-see resort" but the pricing needed to be revised.

"What the (pricing) structure is currently doing, is you are going to go there once, you are going to spend that money, but you're not going to become a multiple visitor, you're not going to become a regular," he said.

"I think if the pricing structure was more realistic, if it was per car as opposed to per person, or another arrangement was looked at, that you could have multiple entry over the course of the year I think that people will come back more and more and of course that generate more footfall.

"The fact of the matter is, anyone will tell you, that it is too expensive to go in in the first instance and already the National Trust, and I welcome this, have conceded that the signage does need to be looked at again as it could be construed as being misleading.

"I'm glad that they've conceded that point, and I think they now need to concede the other point that this pricing structure needs to be looked at."

Billy Reid from the National Trust said they had benchmarked prices against other international destinations.

"The vast majority of feedback that we've had from over 116,000 visitors is they've found it really good, they've enjoyed themselves, they've had a good time and they think it's value for money," he told UTV.

He said he didn't think the cost of the visitor centre needed revising.

"People expect to pay whenever they go to world class facilities," he said.

"Any money that is earned up there is going straight back into conservation in Northern Ireland. This is not about the National Trust making money, it's about trying to do the work we do and put money back into it, and of course to pay for the running of the centre which has a lot of high-tech equipment in it and employs a lot of people in the North Coast.

Responding to claims that customers were being misled into thinking they have to pay to see the stones he said: "We have a sign before you actually drive into the car park, we're not into trying to lure people in and give them a bad time. What we want is for people to come along and have a really good visit.

"You can walk on site at anytime and see the stones, but I would suggest you are missing out.

"The feedback that we're getting is that people are really getting a lot from it."

© UTV News
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14 Comments
pauline in co londonderry wrote (309 days ago):
for years the giants causeway centre has never charged for visiting this site, being a frequent traveler all over the world and may I add few sites have I CAME to visit been free very very few so I THINK ITS ABOUT TIME we should be charging the rest of the world to come and see our outstanding sites along the north coast they come in droves to this unique place so why would we not charge I THINK YOU GUYS WHO ARE MOANING SHOULD KEEP QUIET AND BE GRATEFUL WE HAVE TOURISTS COMING TO OUR COUNTRY PS ITS NOT ANY AMERICANS, JAPANESE, ETC MOANING ,,,,,,,,,
Phil in Belfast wrote (314 days ago):
'It currently costs £8.50 (£4.25 for children) or £21 per family for admission to the visitor centre, which allows customers access to a cafe, shop,' so people can pay in to spend money at their cafe and shop ? Sounds great. 'It is still free to visit the ancient basalt stones and walk along the coastal site' Your jesting me ? Wonder how long it will be before we are charged to have a wee look at nature.
Billy McWilliams in Banbridge wrote (314 days ago):
I was up the other day, and it cost £7 pet adult to get a park and ride bus from Bushmills, including entry to the centre, causeway, and use of the toilets. Very fine toilets they were too. Wasn't too impressed with the new centre or exhibition, or the fact that most of the causeway was closed "for safety reasons", but it didn't cost £8.50. You can park at the hotel and walk round the place for nothing. And Peter from Derry? Dunluce is a DOE NIEA site, not NT and is far too dear at a fiver, particularly since none of the guides can be bothered to leave the shop. Might be better buying a NT family membership at those prices.
Davy Puckett in Bangor wrote (314 days ago):
£8.50 to go into their big shed! And the presentations lack imagination. By the way, there are toilets at the rear of the hotel, free of charge. And you can visit the causeway free but on the day I was there and bypassing the shed, I was asked by an attendant if I had purchased a ticket - sly or what? Also, I understand there is no legislation prohibiting anyone driving a vehicle right down to the stones. Interesting if that's the case. . . . . .
Kate in Belfast wrote (314 days ago):
I visited the centre last month with visitors from South Africa, they enjoyed the Causeway but when we went looking for toilets we were told to pay or use the Causeway Hotel because it was owned by the National Trust. The hotel had a large notice on the door saying toilets are for customers only, fair point. In our party were my pregnant daughter, her 2 year old who is being toilet trained and her mother in law who is 68 as you can see finding a toilet was a matter of urgency! We used the hotel, it was that or pay nearly £40.00, an expensive pee... I've lived in Northern Ireland all my life and love to get out and about to visit various sites, its ridiculous that there are nonpaying toilets at almost every other venue I have visited and every carpark on the coast road but not at the Causeway which attracts so many visiors.
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