Up to 18,000 jobs could be created if Northern Ireland attracted the same level of tourism as the Irish Republic, according to a survey.

More than two thirds of the Northern Ireland tourist industry expected major growth if security and political stability is maintained, said the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation (NIHF).

But without stability the industry will not invest, cannot fund growth and will not attract new visitors, it said.

The warning came with publication of the Blueprint for Tourism, the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken of the tourism and leisure sector in the province.

Produced by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the survey predicted tourism jobs could be created faster than within any other industrial sector.

It revealed tourism in Northern Ireland currently generated almost 2% of total turnover compared to 7% in the Irish Republic. It said the sector employed 34,500 people compared to the republic's 120,000.

According to the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, one of the most popular attractions is the Giant's Causeway near Portrush in County Antrim.

It boasts over 40,000 stone columns which legend said the giant Finn McCool, the warrior and commander of the king of Ireland's armies, built to cross to Scotland.

Meanwhile, the survey also showed that visitor numbers have grown by 20% year on year, since the paramilitary ceasefires, compared to a 11% growth in the republic.

Economic growth

The survey was produced as a response "to the lack of policy on tourism development and the challenge of global competition which threatens the current 1.7m visitors to Northern Ireland each year", according to the the NIHF.

Howard Hastings, president of the NIHF, forecast "unparalleled economic growth, investment and job creation prospects for a sector that is ready to grow organically faster than any other within the Northern Ireland economy".

Speaking at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast on Wednesday, Mr Hastings called for "strategic co-ordination within a broader Northern Ireland economic strategy which once and for all delivered economic growth within tourism".

He said: "This needs structure, economic flair, joint private and public sector partnership, new thinking and financial support.

"I fully expect government to be supportive of the endeavour that has begun today," he said.

The federation called for help from the government in its drive to develop greater financial incentives for the industry.

This would include rates relief on properties, capital allowances to stimulate growth and major investment in training and labour supply.

It called for "total ministerial commitment" to the tourism industry and greater acknowledgement within the executive of the "sheer weight of economic potential within the sector under the right policy and support structures".