Tourism bosses look to reap reward of McIlroy’s exploits

Irish tourism chiefs hope to reap the rewards of Rory McIlroy’s elevation to world number one.

Tourism and Sport Minister, Michael Ring, last night admitted that McIlroy’s achievement is a huge shot in the arm for the ‘home of champions’ marketing campaign, aimed at attracting golfing visitors to Ireland.

Ring said: “Our golfing sector is working closely with Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland to market Ireland to golfers. Rory is one of several Irish golfers who feature in our campaigns alongside Pádraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell. We will be building on Rory’s win in the run-up to the Irish Open.

“Visitors who play golf bring some €204m into the Irish economy and support around 7,300 jobs. Around 155,000 overseas visitors played golf while in Ireland and the typical overseas golf tourist is worth almost three times the value of the average tourist to Ireland.”