Why Do We Need The Northern Ireland Tourist Board When We Have The National Trust?

Northern Ireland Tourists disTrust National disTrust

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Over at what do they know . com an obviously already irate tourist now seems to have taken umbrage with the response he received to a Freedom of Information request. In light of the ongoing saga of the National Trust having claimed they had received a Northern Ireland Tourist Board 4Star Rating for their CastleWard Caravan Park which turned out to have been totally untrue, a more than valid question was asked of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board by the aforementioned irate tourist.

What action had asked the irate tourist, would the Northern Ireland Tourist Board be taking against the National Trust for falsely claiming they had received a 4Star NITB grading when they clearly had not, and the existence of an alleged 2Star NITB Rating had also been questioned. In reply the NITB stated the Manager of the CastleWard Caravan Park, had been spoken to, and he had confirmed that the email they issued should not have included any reference to a star rating and that they would not be issuing any documentation or promoting a star rating until an inspection has taken place and an official notification of a star rating has been given.

Not exactly what the National Trust clarification email/letter from of 19th January 2011 said with lashings of ambiguity, and what about the new site updates that hadn't materialised either?

Nonetheless the Northern Ireland Tourist Board say they are now satisfied that this matter has now been resolved, which is all very well, but are any of the many irate tourists satisfied, many of whom feel they have been conned by the National Trust? No, they most certainly are not in the least satisfied with the stance taken by the allegedly toothless feeble Northern Ireland Tourist Board, but then again, what exactly can the NITB actually do about the allegedly all powerful National Trust?

Very soon, some suspect the National Trust will achieve what they've been allegedly rumoured to be allegedly vying for, the demise of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, after all, who needs the NITB when the National Trust is allegedly rumoured to be allegedly promoting itself as the alternative. A relaxing walk through our pleasant countryside would, it might be alleged, very soon be affordable only by those rich enough to pay the exorbitant 'air that I breathe' fees as would allegedly be imposed by the new regime. Not such an exaggeration some might say, for haven't they already allegedly taken over a sizeable portion of the Province, so what or who will stop them from capturing the remaining few acres, and the air that we breathe?

In their response to the aforementioned Freedom of Information request the Northern Ireland Tourist Board more than once refers to the offending Castle Ward Caravan Park as 'premises' which leads us the website of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board where it states: 'Under the Tourism (Northern Ireland) Order 1992, all 'premises' in Northern Ireland offering tourist accommodation must be certified by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB).'

The NITB furthermore declares: 'NITB aims to provide advice and guidance to encourage world class visitor servicing in the tourism industry. This includes delivering a level of service which meets and exceeds the expectations of all visitors. This also involves the provision of excellent information and facilities.'

Fine noble words from an organisation allegedly losing the battle for supremacy of the Northern Ireland Tourism Policy, and does the provision of excellent information and facilities translate into the National Trust being given carte blanche to falsely claim during December 2010: 'As a result of a number of site updates Castle Ward is delighted to have received a Northern Ireland Tourist Board 4 Star Caravan Park Rating. New site updates include the following: Improvement of shower facilities (now separate female cubicles), New laundry facilities (token operated washer and tumble dryers), New indoor hot water washroom facilities, A small onsite shop. A new wide entrance with one way system for easy access, A new drive-on drainage post for camper vans’

The Northern Ireland Tourist Board, is an organisation that surely has, if not a legal duty to protect unsuspecting innocent tourists from alleged shysters, from wherever they might appear, most certainly they should have an alleged moral duty to do so, though before passing judgement it would most likely be prudent to establish if in fact they had any morals.

The Northern Ireland Tourist Board Rating Scheme has been shown to be nothing more than a meaningless worthless charade not to be trusted by any right thinking tourist. Can we ever again Trust the Northern Ireland Tourist Board?