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: GPS, Ireland, People, Places, Volvo Ocean Race, tourism | Tags: galway tourism, Volvo Ocean Race, volvo race galway
The Volvo Ocean Race will visit Galway in the summer of 2009. On the 23rd of May 2009 the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) will arrive in Galway following the transatlantic leg, racing from Boston, and it will stay in Galway for a two week stopover before leaving on the next leg to Göteborg in Sweden.
The Volvo Ocean race, also known as the Round the World Race, is run every four years and will cover 39,000 miles. It begin in Alicante, Spain and will visit around eleven ports including the Middle East, Southeast Asia, China, India and Boston. In-port racing will take place in all ports as well as the race around the world. The Galway leg of this race begins in June 2009.
The Volvo Ocean Race is expected to be Ireland’s biggest ever sporting/festival so far, with Galway city expected to welcome over 300,000 people and generate approx €100 million in revenue over the course of the two weeks.
Visitors to Galway will get a chance to experience the spectacle of the VO70 sailing boats including in-port racing and enjoy everything special that the West of Ireland has to offer.
Filed under: Ireland, People, Places, tourism | Tags: galway development, galway tourism, Tourism Ireland, Volvo Ocean Race, Yachting
New development is planned for Galway Harbour in Renmore to facilitate the stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race in May and June next year.
The group behind the stopover bid known as ‘Lets do it Galway’ has applied to the city council to build a dry dock and slipway on vacant harbour lands in Renmore.
Galway city was previously confirmed as a stopover point for the Volvo Ocean race.
The event has a worldwide audience of 1.8 billion and is expected to generate revenue of upto 100 million euro in Galway
The proposed slipway will be used to launch Yaucts during the Ocean race and the dry dock will allow for running repairs to boats competing in the race.
In a letter to the city council the group say these facilities are vital to the success of the Galway stage of the race.
Filed under: Ireland, tourism | Tags: Irish Tourism, Sailing, Volvo Ocean Race
Galway will be the stopover for the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race following the Irish Government’s agreement to make funding available to help bring the race to Ireland for the first time according to galwaytourism.ie. Race organisers welcomed the Irish commitment of up to eight million Euros to secure the stopover.
The race schedule is as follows – after the Alicante start, the race moves to Cape Town, has a 10-day halt at Kochi, and sails to Singapore, Qingdao (China), Rio de Janeiro, Boston, Galway, Goteborg and Stockholm before the St. Petersburg finish.
Race organisers are predicting a possible 24-hour speed record between Boston and Galway as the boats race along the Gulf Stream in the late spring of 2009. The race is considered as one of the most demanding sporting events in the world.
