This is quite the accolade.
Belfast and the Giant's Causeway Coast have been named the Number One Region in the world to visit next year by Lonely Planet in their upcoming Best Of Travel 2018 guide.
The city and attraction beat out stiff competition from the likes of Alaska, the Languedoc-Roussillon region in France and the Aeolian islands in Italy.
Nóirín Hegarty, the Lonely Planet’s Operations Director Ireland; Niall Gibbons, the CEO of Tourism Ireland; and John McGrillen, the CEO of Tourism NI (all pictured above) made the announcement at the Queen’s University Belfast.
In the Lonely Planet's Best Of Travel 2018 guide, they describe Belfast as "full of hip neighbourhoods that burst with bars, restaurants and venues to suit all tastes. The rusting old docklands are now the vibrant Titanic Quarter, home to fancy apartments and a sensational museum”.
The city shared the accolade with the Causeway Coast, which the publication describes as possessing "timeless beauty and high-grade distractions – golf, whiskey and some of the world's most famous rocks – are more popular now than ever”.
Niall Gibbons, the CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “The inclusion of Belfast and the Causeway Coast as the Number One Region in the world in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2018 is wonderful news and will surely help to inspire travellers everywhere to put Northern Ireland on their holiday wish-list for next year."
"It is another well-deserved accolade, which provides Tourism Ireland with a great hook to continue to promote Belfast and the Causeway Coast around the world as a ‘must visit’ destination.”
We imagine that'll mean a few more folk taking the nearby Game Of Thrones tour...
