Ireland is world ‘Golf Destination of the Year’
This is one of the greatest accolades that could be afforded to the golf tourism industry in Ireland and not surprisingly has been warmly welcomed by, among others, the Minister for Tourism, Mr John O’Donoghue.
The Minister described it as “extremely important because it is our customers who have voted us number one”.
“We have 200,000 golfing visitors coming here annually generating a spend of 200 million and this can only further enhance our attraction for overseas golfers.”
Damien Ryan, Director of Golf for Fáilte Ireland, accepted the award and told the 600 delegates that, “this is the greatest award Ireland has ever won on the golfing scene”.
“To be number one in the world is very special indeed” and last night he promised they would not be sitting on our laurels.
“Not alone have we some of the greatest established golf courses in the world but we have a number of new destinations coming on stream every year which add further to the amenities we are in a position to offer our customers.
“Ireland intends to move on from here and bring an ever increasing number of overseas visitors here to play golf.”
Mr Shaun Quinn, chief executive of the tourism board, pointed out that “there were six Irish regions on the voting form but they were all so universally acclaimed that it was decided to give the accolade to the country as a whole. Obviously, that is something of which we are very proud.”
There is no exaggerating the importance of the award given the quality of the opposition.
And it could hardly be better timed given the degree of criticism levelled at the trade here where green fee costs were concerned.
Every leading golf destination in the world was represented at the convention and the word is that the Scots were particularly disappointed at the outcome.
There is considerable rivalry between Ireland and Scotland, especially where business for links courses is concerned, and this is a signal result in favour of all the Irish venues and hotels who serve golf tourism in this country.
Also in the running for the award were Spain and Portugal.
The Iberian golfing holidays are very popular with golfers from Britain and Ireland; other popular destinations South Africa, Australia, Dubai and a number of American regions including the well-known resorts at Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head.
Fáilte Ireland’s stand at the Dominican Republic convention was manned by 19 representatives of the country’s top courses and hotels along with organisations such as SWING and West Coast Links.
The outcome came as a very welcome Christmas present for all concerned.
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