Nearly 35,000 Titanic enthusiasts have already pre-ordered tickets to tour a new £90 million visitor attraction dedicated to the doomed liner.

The interest in Titanic Belfast - 400,000 are expected to pay a visit in its first year - emerged as its operators marked 100 days until Northern Ireland's largest ever tourism project opens its doors.

The eye-catching building, which is made up of 3,000 aluminium panels shaped like the vessel's hull, has been built on the spot where the liner was first rolled into the water in 1911.

It will welcome visitors two weeks ahead of commemorations across Belfast to mark the Titanic's sinking, with the loss of more than 1,500 lives, on her maiden Atlantic voyage in April 1912.

Earlier this month the Northern Ireland Audit Office voiced concern about whether the complex will attract enough visitors in the long term to prove sustainable.

But the operators of the new centre have rejected such claims as premature.

With 100 days to go before opening day, Titanic Belfast will offer Christmas shoppers in Belfast 100 free tickets to the attraction.

Claire Bradshaw, head of sales and marketing at Titanic Belfast, said: "The wait is nearly over - in just 100 days from now Titanic Belfast will officially open its doors to the world and Belfast can finally begin to reclaim its place at the centre of one of the most captivating global stories in history.

"Interest in Titanic Belfast has been building steadily for years now, but there has been a massive surge in recent months, with enquiries and group bookings from across the world arriving with us on a daily basis.

"Worldwide interest in the Titanic story is huge and we have already secured nearly 35,000 visitors through pre-booked tours and over 100 event bookings at the Titanic Suite."