Ireland is underachieving in its sport tourism potential despite having the capacity to be a major global player, the Shannon Group European Sport Tourism Summit in Limerick has been told.
According to one of the world’s leading experts on sport market intelligence, Mike Laflin of Sportcal, Ireland ranks just 60th in the world, behind Barbados and Andorra, in terms of attracting major global sport events over the past six years and he recommends the establishment of an agency to devise a ten-year strategy and head-up bidding for major global events.
Sport Tourism is estimated to be worth €450 billion globally and growing at a rate of 14 per cent a year, compared to wider tourism growth of 5 per cent.
Mr Laflin was joined on the podium by the likes of Commonwealth Games CEO David Grevember; Ryder Cup Director Richard Hills; Director of Major Events and International Relations at UK Sport Simon Morton and Paul Smith, Head of City Delivery for England 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Speaking at the Summit, he said said, “There is no question about Ireland’s potential in sport tourism but at the moment it is not really registering at an international level. The irony is that Ireland is one of the world’s most passionate sporting nations, has excellent infrastructure and is incredibly good at hospitality yet it is underachieving.
“If Ireland is to tap into its enormous potential, however, it needs to have a dedicated Government agency working on it. Failte Ireland is doing fantastic work at the moment but it is about much more than tourism.”
Keith Wood, director of W2 Consulting, who organised the Summit, said there was a growing number of very successful, organic events in Ireland but we are now only beginning to look at the bigger events.
