Filed under: Events, Festivals, Ireland, People, Places, tourism | Tags: failte ireland, Galway, Galway Bay, galway ireland, galway tourism, Ireland, Irish Tourism, summer festivals, tourism galway, travel, visit galway, visitors to ireland, Volvo Ocean Race, west of ireland
Volvo ocean race galway
The organisations behind a high-profile event held earlier this year in Galway have yet to pay some of their suppliers and are in talks with a number of them in a bid to get their bills discounted or rescheduled.
Businesses which supplied Volvo Race in Galway say that they have yet to be paid by the organisations behind the event.
The Volvo Ocean Race have offering 70 per cent of the total that they owe with the prospect of further payments in the future.
The owner-manager of one of the suppliers pointed out that he has over 30 staff who have to be paid every week, and added that his business cannot afford to operate in a situation where it is not being paid.
The stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race, a round-the-world sailing event in Galway, was billed as a huge success. It was originally estimated that it would attract up to 140,000 spectators or “visits” over a two-week period.
Ultimately, it was estimated that it drew some 600,000, with a considerable spin-off for the city and the region.
A spokeswoman for Let’s Do It Galway, the group behind the organisation of the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Galway, confirmed that it has a number of creditors who supplied goods and services to the event that have yet to be paid.
She said that the organisation had contracts with about 1,000 suppliers, and was dealing with debts running to a “double-figure number”.
The spokeswoman said that it was seeking discounts and attempting to reschedule payments to these suppliers.
State tourism agency Fáilte Ireland pledged €8 million to the Volvo Ocean Race. The spokeswoman explained that the body is not due to pay this money until Let’s Do It Galway completes a number of audits and reports on which it is currently working.
It also has to collect some sponsorship money due from smaller, local backers.
Filed under: Ireland, People, Places, Volvo Ocean Race, tourism | Tags: Galway, galway tourism, Ireland, Irish Tourism, Oceans, Sailing, summer festivals, tourism galway, travel, visit galway, visitors to ireland, Volvo Ocean Race, Waves, west of ireland
Work is expected to begin within the next week on demolishing giant oil storage tanks at Galway docks which are regarded by visitors and locals alike as an eyesore in the city centre. The demolition has been accelerated to ensure that Galway puts its best foot forward for the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in the city next month. Up to 150,000 visitors are expected to head to the western capital for the event, which takes place between May 23 and June 6 and which will have a television audience of 1.8 billion. The removal of the 11 tanks will facilitate a massive Volvo Ocean Race tented village which will be constructed along the dockside, allowing maximum viewing access for the expected massive crowds. The stopover is expected to generate a spend in the region of €40m across the wider Galway area, with the Government, under the aegis of Failte Ireland, stumping up €8m to promote the event.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Galway, Galway Bay, galway tourism, Irish Tourism, Oceans, Sailing, tourism galway, travel, visit galway, visitors to ireland, Volvo Ocean Race
Volvo Ocean Race Galway
After months of prolonged negotiations it was finally announced this week that the oil tanks on the Docks will be removed in time for the arrival of the Volvo Ocean Race in May. The decision paves the way for the Galway Volvo Ocean Race Village to be included as originally planned on the site of the tanks, ensuring a connection between the village and Eyre Square via Victoria Street.
Making the announcement Galway Harbour Master, Brian Sheridan said he was delighted to see that all parties involved had finally reached a decision. Work on the decommissioning of the tanks in due to begin in the very near future and the expected month of work should be completed in plenty of time for the arrival of the tented village from Rio de Janeiro on Monday 11 May. According to Topaz, who will manage the decommissioning of the tanks, the work should be completed by the end of April allowing the race village be constructed in ample time.
Filed under: Ireland, Places, Volvo Ocean Race, tourism | Tags: failte ireland, Galway, galway ireland, Irish Tourism, visit galway, visitors to ireland, Volvo Ocean Race
Green Dragon Volvo Ocean Race
Green Dragon Volvo Ocean Race team hopes to leave a greater awareness of Ireland among the Chinese in its wake. China is set to become the world’s most important tourist industry in the next few years and this is one of the reasons why the Irish have put so much effort into publicity here in Qingdao.
With China set to become the largest outbound travel market, this kind of event gives you great exposure. On the night the Green Dragon arrived, it was the Green Dragon that everyone here was interested in.
Bono visited the boat with his brother Norman Hewson in Alicante, but U2 lookalikes with huge papier mache heads greeted the crowds at the hall in Qingdao, which was full of Chinese people eating Irish food supplied by Good Food Ireland, and entertainment by Arcana from Galway.
“Our concept is all about giving a real flavour of Ireland so that’s why we had the food and the personalities behind the food,” said Gorman.
Ireland’s profile in China received a significant boost during the Chinese New Year TV show on CCTV, which is the most watched TV show in the world with hundreds of millions of viewers.
The “CCTV Spring Festival Gala” featured Riverdance, the first time a foreign group had featured so prominently on the show, and the whole country is talking about how the Irish troupe high-stepped its way into the Year of the Ox. In fact, Riverdance has replaced Roy Keane as the thing about Ireland most people in China know about, distracting attention away from the tainted pork scandal of recent months.
“I don’t know much about Ireland. Irish dancing is very famous, but after this event I know a bit more. If I had an opportunity I’d love to visit,” said Zhang Huizhen, from Qingdao.
Snow Qu, who works for the electronics group Philips in Qingdao, said she was a big fan of Guo. And is also a big fan of the brown bread and jam on offer.
“The food is great. If we could go to Ireland, we’d go,” she said.
The Green Dragon, which is fourth in the race rankings, and the other boats are expected to arrive in Brazil on March 20th. Fáilte Ireland received €8 million from the Government to build a marina in Galway to receive the Volvo Ocean Race teams when they arrive, and also to sponsor the Green Dragon itself.
Filed under: Ireland, People, Surfing Ireland, Volvo Ocean Race, tourism | Tags: Galway Bay, galway ireland, galway tourism, Ireland, Sailing, summer festivals, tourism galway, visitors to ireland, Volvo Ocean Race, west of ireland
TOURISM bosses have issued a stark warning to Galway hotels, bars and other businesses in the hospitality sector not to jeopardise the city’s reputation abroad by overcharging and ‘cashing-in’ during the Volvo Ocean Race this Summer. Up to 140,000 visitors are expected to visit Galway for the two week festival in May and June which represents a unique opportunity to showcase Galway and get repeat tourism business.
Fáilte Ireland have warned businesses that if they overcharge and fail to offer a warm welcome, the city’s reputation will be sullied which could cause damage to the long-term future of the tourism sector in Galway and the West.
Already 30 hotels have signed up to the ‘Galway accommodation charter’ where they have agreed to offer fair pricing during the stopover, and others have been urged to follow their lead as there are fears that negative publicity internationally about poor service and overcharging could damage Galway city’s bid to hold the stopover again in four years time.
Filed under: People, Places, Volvo Ocean Race, tourism | Tags: galway ireland, summer festivals, tourism, visit galway, visitors to ireland, Volvo Ocean Race, west of ireland
Tourism chiefs in Galway remain bullish about the prospects of the industry locally this year in spite of the global economic recession which saw a significant drop in overseas visitor numbers for the first time in seven years. Visitor figures for last year show a worrying decline in two of Galway’s three biggest overseas visitor markets, American and UK, but Irish Tourism groups remain confident Galway city and county can buck the trend this year and outperform all other regions in Ireland outside of Dublin. The tourism organisation said a combination of the Volvo Ocean Race in early summer and upcoming aggressive marketing campaigns in mainland Europe, UK, US and in Ireland will help to ensure Galway and the West ‘holds its own’ in 2009. New statistics released yesterday reveal tourists from America and UK dropped by 9% and 5% respectively in 2008 compared to the preceding year. The American tourists who came here in 2008 spent 18% less than the previous year while British tourists spent 2% less resulting in an overall decline in national tourism revenues of around 2% to €6.3 billion.
Filed under: Ireland, People, Places, tourism | Tags: accommodation, cso, five star hotels, tourism, travel, visitors to ireland
Galwaytourism.ie reports that Some of the Ireland’s finest hotels are slashing rates as tough times descend. Tough competition now means more affordable rates at 5 star hotels.
The number of hotel rooms in the state has more than doubled in ten years to 58,000 with a hotel-building boom fuelled by economic growth and lucrative tax breaks.
There are 35 five-star hotels in the country, while the number of four-star hotels has almost trebled in two years, from 80 to 231. With the slowdown in the Irish and world economies, however, some observers are asking what the future holds for the high-end hotel sector.
Last year, occupancy rates at Ireland’s five-star hotels were 69 per cent – the highest occupancy rate of all hotel categories. The occupancy rate for four-star hotels was also good, coming in at an average of 66 per cent last year, according to figures from the Irish tourist industry.
With the domestic economy also slowing, it is widely accepted that 2008 will be a challenging year for the hotel sector. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some hotel owners are taking action to address the situation, with a number of high-profile five-star hotels reducing their room rates – some by as much as 50 per cent.
Some hoteliers believe that the opening of so many tax-driven hotel initiatives in recent years will place additional pressure on existing players
New figures released from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that almost one million overseas visitors came to the Republic in the first two months of this year. The figures represented an increase of 1 per cent on the same period last year. While it is early days in terms of the tourism season, the figures will provide some encouragement to hoteliers already concerned about the impact of difficult market conditions and economic uncertainty on their bottom line in 2008.
Official figures released by the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation showed a fall in the number of trips made to Ireland in January reports Galway Tourism. Overseas visitors made 437,000 visits in the month, down almost 4,000 on the same month last year. There were small drops in the numbers coming from Britain and North America, while the figure for continental Europe held up. But there was a 4.5% fall in visits from other areas. It is widely believed that Ireland’s reputation as an ‘expensive destination’ was becoming well established.
Trips abroad by Irish residents were 548,400 in January, up 11% on a year earlier.
