New ticketing system for north coast landmark

New ticketing system for north coast landmark

One of Northern Ireland’s most renowned tourist attractions has become so popular with visitors that the National Trust has introduced a new timed ticketing system.

The Trust, which looks after the popular Carrick-a-rede rope bridge on the north coast, will initiate the new system this Friday in order to better manage traffic on the bridge, which is only 46cms wide.

The tickets, which can only be purchased on site, will give each visitor an hour at the site and only eight of them will be allowed to cross the rope bridge at a time. Visitors will be required to present their tickets to Trust staff at the site in time for their allocated slot.

The bridge, which is NI’s sixth most popular tourist attraction, recorded record numbers of visitors during 2016 and Frank Devlin from the Trust – which manages around 10 miles of the famous north coast – says that the new system should help control the flow of sightseers:

“We are confident that the new system, which will be reviewed on an ongoing basis throughout the season, will benefit those visiting the site,” he added.

Carrick-a-rede rope bridge – which was first erected by local fishermen 350 years ago – was visited by 354,000 people in 2015.