The number of tourists visiting Ulsters biggest city has increased five-fold since the first IRA ceasefire in 1994, figures from the Belfast Visitor Convention Bureau (BCVB) have revealed.

And, with growing numbers from all five continents giving good old Norn Iron the thumbs up, the city is set to become even more cosmopolitan.

What was once a European no-go city whose only foreign visitors were journalists is now an international hot-spot for tourists from all four corners of the globe.

And this summer that trend continued, with many of Belfasts main tourist venues attracting a host of different nationalities.

So whats the attraction?

Anita Mathur from San Francisco said she would recommend Belfast to anyone when she returns to the US.

"I think it is fantastic. We are here for three days. We took a hop-on, hop-off bus tour earlier.

"Its nice to have something like that available so you can learn a bit about the history of the area and understand a bit better what went on.

"I would recommend Belfast to anyone, it is beautiful," she said.

Heather Boyd from Ottowa in Canada was on a day trip from Scotland.

She said: "This is the most beautiful city centre I have ever seen."

The Italian Pagano family were in town for five days and also liked what they saw. They were particularly impressed by Belfast City Hall.

Son Alessandro Pagano told the Belfast Telegraph: "We have just arrived and we like Belfast.

"It is a very nice city and the people are great too. We like it very much."

Canadian couple James and Deborah Bonthron were taking a tour of Belfast City Hall.

The pair from Toronto were particularly impressed with the regeneration of the Waterfront area.

Said Deborah: "We like Belfast. We are here for eight days and thought we would get to see a bit more, but we like Belfast so much, we are so impressed with it, we want to stay here longer and do all the tours.

"My grandmother was from the Templemore Avenue area of east Belfast and her two brothers were riveters on the Titanic which is exciting.

"We took the Titanic Trail which is a really neat audio visual tour that was only £10 for two - it was a really good deal.

"We are having a great time."

German backpackers Katharina Von Sohlern and Tobias Bottger both 19, were on a whistle-stop visit. The Munich duo said they would liked to have stayed longer in Belfast.

"We have a good impression of the city so far.

"We are only here for five hours and will be getting the boat to Stranraer, but we have a good impression. It is a very beautiful city."

Andre and Myrene Delas from La Cote St Andre in France were also visiting Belfast for the first time and gave the city 10 out of 10.

Spanish couple Joseph and Briginia Johnston said Belfast was a "beautiful place".

"It is a nice city, we are here for one week. We think it is beautiful," said Joseph.

Mark and Zoe Bailey were visiting Belfast for the first time from England and also had a good first impression.

"It is bigger than I thought. We havent seen too much of it yet but we like what we see. We probably would come back," said Mark.

Londoner Heather Loving took her five children to Belfast for the day.

She said: "We are staying in Dumfries in Scotland and thought we would take a day trip to Belfast. I have never been here before.

"I am impressed so far, I am just looking for all the designer shops that they keep telling me about."

Lisa McMurray, director of communications at the BVCB said numbers of tourists topped a million last year.

"In 1994 we had 200,000 staying tourists in Northern Ireland. In 2005 there were over one million. I think the figures speak for themselves. They come to see Belfast - to take tours of the city and for the nightlife.

"They also use Belfast as a gateway to explore other parts of the province including the Causeway and other parts of the north of Ireland."

Meanwhile, July was the busiest month at the BVCBs Donegall Place outlet.

Staff dealt with 41,500 enquiries - up 26,500 since 2001 when the Welcome Centre first opened its doors and a 5% rise on last year. And Thursday, July 20, was the busiest ever with 2,300 visitors through the door.

The positive news comes on the back of a National Lottery survey which said people living in Belfast were more satisfied with life and more hopeful than in other UK cities.

Another survey revealed that the quality of life was better in Belfast than the rest of Britain.