Ryder tee-up: €3m to promote Ireland to golf fans
Tourism Ireland hopes the event at Kildare’s plush K Club next month will boost the economy by €130 million.
The north-south tourism body is using the tournament to promote the country to wealthy golfing enthusiasts in the US, Canada and Britain.
Already one firm on the US’s east coast has sold 500 Irish golfing holidays at €3,950 to €15,750 a time.
Tourism Ireland’s Fiona Scott said: “The television audience for the Ryder Cup is estimated at one billion viewers — it’s the world’s third-biggest sporting event.
“During the Ryder Cup, they will be mentioning the word Ireland 500 times a day alone on US television.
“So Ireland will be at the front of people’s minds as they watch the Ryder Cup and we want to capitalise on that by motivating them to book golfing holidays here.”
Around 40,000 spectators a day are expected at the Straffan venue for the prestigious tournament in which Europe’s best golfers take on the cream of the US.
In the US, Tourism Ireland has staged golf days at up-market country clubs in major cities and is promoting Ireland on television and at professional golfing tournaments.
In Britain, the tourism board has targeted wealthy businessmen and women but it has also marketed Ireland as a good value destination for golfers.
In Canada, newspaper advertisements are using the picture of a female golfer next to a photograph of James Joyce’s statue in Dublin.
The campaign is being run on behalf of Fáilte Ireland, which has given Tourism Ireland more than €3m of taxpayers’ money for overseas Ryder Cup promotions.
Ms Scott said the campaign was already reaping rewards as US television networks come here to film lifestyle programmes to be shown during the tournament. Figures show that the Ryder Cup was worth €165m to the British economy when it was staged at the Belfry in England in 2002.
In 2004, Ireland welcomed 138,000 golfing holiday-makers — who spent a whopping €142.5m — and tourism chiefs want to swell visitor numbers still further.
