Belfast City Council has unveiled plans for a new £100 million tourist attraction to be built in the docklands area of Belfast.

The attraction will be based on the Titanic, which was famously built at the Harland and Wolff dockyard in the Belfast before it set sail to England.

Included in the plans is a full-scale model replica of the ship, conference centre and exhibition galleries. The attraction is set to be open by 2012, which is the 100th anniversary of the liner’s launch and its faithful voyage from Southampton.

The Northern Ireland Tourist Board predicts that the attraction will draw tens of thousands of tourists to the area, enhancing the local economy. For example, Belfast’s airports will be able to increase their services with the inclusion of more Irish car hire companies and possibly the construction of a new hotel to cater for the additional visitors.