THE HEAD of Northern Ireland's Tourist Board (NITB) once described Belfast as "not very attractive" to visit, in an interview with the BBC.
The clip from the Midweek program, filmed in 1974, at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland has been re-released through BBC Archive's Facebook page.
Viewed with the benefit of hindsight, the footage borders on the satirical as the presenter introduces the optimistic NITB chief executive by asking how he would describe Belfast to someone who had never been before.
Robert Hall goes on to defend, as best he can, the city as an "interesting place if you want some excitement" but admits he cannot implicitly give Belfast his full backing for "obvious reasons."
He then points to all the jeeps and the army "sculling around" as British soldiers pass by in a moving vehicle down one of the main streets.
He acknowledges "all the bomb damage" and appears to then exasperatedly admit that Belfast is "not really" a great tourist centre.
Pushed on the whether it was safe to come to Northern Ireland, Mr Hall makes comparisons with the dangers of visiting Israel where "you can not guarantee you won't tread on a landmine" or Italy where you can't "guarantee you won't catch cholera or enteritis."
He also argues that the United States could not guarantee tourists wouldn't get murdered or mugged on a visit to New York.
"I read the last week that there are nine murders a day and a thousand muggings a day in New Your, I reckon we're better than that," he quipped.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:
1974: Midweek: Northern Ireland tourism#OTD 1974: The chief executive of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board did his best to sell the benefits of Belfast.
Posted by BBC Archive on Sunday, 10 July 2016
