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A girl looks at the new sculpture honouring the workforce that built the Titanic, east Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, March, 28, 2012. The sculptures by Irish artist Ross Wilson are situated in east Belfast with the backdrop of the Harland and Wo Peter Morrison, Associated Press
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Children watch footage of the Titanic on the sea bed in the Ocean Exploration centre in Titanic House Vistor Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, March, 27, 2012. The £100 million (119.5 million euros; $158 million dollars approx) building is Peter Morrison, Associated Press
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In this photo dated March 25 2012, the Titanic House Vistor Centre is reflected on Belfast Lough, Northern Ireland. The £100 million (119.5 million euros; $158 million dollars) building is now finished and will open to the public on March 31. The wo Peter Morrison, Associated Press
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A man cleans glass around a large replica of the Titanic on display in Titanic House Vistor Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, March, 27, 2012. The £100 million (119.5 million euros; $158 million dollars) building is now finished and will open t Peter Morrison, Associated Press
By Associated Press

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Belfast is launching an impressive new tourist attraction — the 100 million-pound ($160 million, €120 million) Titanic Belfast visitor center, which offers a taste of the excitement and opulence surrounding the doomed trans-Atlantic liner.

Some 100,000 tickets have already sold. Belfast is betting the center, which opens Saturday will deliver a lasting tourist tonic to the conflict-scarred city.

Any visitor's first impression will be of its stunning exterior: four jutting prows of the ship, lined in silver steel paneling six stories high. It sits beside the Belfast Lough dockside where the ship was built from 1909 to 1911 and set sail for her sea trials on April 2, 1912.

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A three-week festival featuring talks, walks and seven stage shows, including "Titanic The Musical," also begins Saturday to mark the 100th anniversary of the ship's launching.

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