Fantastic golf, great craic and stunning landscapes

IRISH tourism welcomes another exhilarating chapter in Irish golf as the Irish Open returns to Killarney, bringing golf to the heart of Irish tourism — as it is in the hearts of all sports fans throughout the country.

Why are Fáilte Ireland so committed to the Irish Open? Golf is one of Ireland’s greatest tourist attractions — welcoming an estimated 155,000 visitors in 2010 and contributing approximately €110 million to the economy.

As a country, we were already world-renowned for the high quality and wide choice of our golf courses but, thanks to the great performances in recent years of the likes of Pádraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke, our players are now amongst the best known in the world. In fact, when you think about it, despite our size and population, the island of Ireland can easily hold its own competitively with the best from all over the world.

How does an island so small create so many good golfers? It shouldn’t be too surprising when you consider that we have more than 400 golf courses — many set against backdrops of spectacular scenic landscapes. Indeed, we have a third of the world’s links courses.

While our colleagues in Scotland like to market themselves as the home of golf, we sell ourselves under the theme “Time to Play”. Indeed, the Lonely Planet captured the distinction nicely when it recently explained that, if Scotland is the home of golf, then Ireland is where golf takes its holidays.

As well as fantastic golf, Ireland also impresses at the 19th hole and beyond. As a destination, we have award-winning accommodation, an impressive range of activities to complement any golf tour, and a unique culture and heritage. As nine out of 10 of our visitors tell us in survey after survey, we also have some of the friendliest people in the world and we can guarantee a warm welcome for all.

Having a great golf product is all very fine but it’s not something we want to keep a secret. We want more and more overseas visitors to come here and enjoy the conditions that create great golf and great golfers.

And this is where the Irish Open fits in. It manages — through the setting in Killarney, the atmosphere and the contest itself — to showcase perfectly the holy trinity we want potential golfing visitors to see: fantastic golf, great craic and stunning landscapes.

We are particularly pleased to note that Darren, Rory, Pádraig and Graeme will all be joining us in Killarney, along with defending champion Ross Fisher and other big names like Europe’s most recent Ryder Cup captain, Colin Montgomerie.

Pádraig Harrington, as Ireland’s official Golf Ambassador, is the face of our Irish golf promotion overseas and he is an obvious choice for us — whenever he speaks about golf or plays in tournaments throughout the world, it is clear that he represents his country well and is proud of his heritage.

Fáilte Ireland invest heavily in this event, despite the budgetary constraints which everyone must accept in the country today. However, we see this not as expenditure but as an investment. This Irish Open will reap great benefits for tourism and golf in Ireland. We will soon be out of the rough and back on the putting green. Through events like this we can grow tourism and in turn enjoy growth in visitor numbers, revenue and jobs.

So we in Irish Tourism are very much looking forward to a great tournament. The iron is hot and Irish golf is, dare we say it, in fashion at the moment. What better time could there be to host a platform to see the type of country where today’s — and indeed tomorrow’s — champions learned to play?

* Keith McCormack is Fáilte Ireland’s head of Golf, Events and Business Tourism.