John Gardiner 2/9/2013We will be live this morning from the Sport for Business Sports Tourism Seminar at the GAA Museum. You can follow the action on twitter at #SfBSportsTourism and we will update the site here at regular intervals throughout the morning session.
Among those who will be sharing their insight on the value and the opportunity around Sports Tourism for Ireland are Peter McKenna of the GAA, Conor Mallaghan of Carton House, Fiona Bolger from Irish Sailing, Sean Murphy of Aer Lingus, John McGrane of Ulster Bank and the British Irish Chamber of Commerce, Declan Byrne of Titan Marketing on the Rock ‘n Roll half Marathon, Andy Greenslade of Carlson Wagonlit Travel, David Fraser of Harrison Fraser and Rob Hartnett of Sport for Business.
UPDATE
0830 Over 50 leaders in sport and business have gathered at the GAA Museum to see what might be possible…
0915 Rob Hartnett has outlined the benefits of sports tourism to Canada where its value has grown by 8% against a decline in overall tourist numbers of 0.7%. And of the value in Britain where 900,000 visitors to English Premier League games spend an average of £752 per head. The number travelling from Ireland is 174,000 meaning an economic outflow at those numbers of more than £160 million. We will cover the full presentation in Friday morning’s Daily News Digest.
0945 A call to action for the creation of an Irish Sports Tourism Alliance. Good reaction already from the floor with those present willing to lend their weight. A 10 point manifesto on what we can and will achieve to be published for starters on Friday morning. Talks to take place then between sport, business and Government with a view to making it live in 2013. The aim will be to learn from 2013 and the success of the Gathering, take on board great ideas from around the world and do them better here. We will deliver for sport, deliver for business and deliver for Ireland.
1015 Conor Mallaghan from Carton House on why Real Madrid came to Ireland ‘because they wanted grass cut to 23mm and watered half an hour before training, and we delivered.’ John McGrane of Ulster Bank and British Irish Chamber of Commerce. “Tourism from Britain has fallen by half since 2006 and is now bouncing back. This gives enormous scope right on our doorstep. Sean Clancy of Aer Lingus on ‘the return from investment in the Gathering and grassroots sport being beyond our expectations.
1040 Our groups have now formed into breakout round tables to discuss three particular issues and will be back at 1130 to present imaginative musings, that can be turned into concrete actions.
1130 We will share some of the thoughts of those in attendance as part of a review to be published on Friday morning
1200 Peter McKenna of the GAA. Importance of working together and reaching beyond what is comfortable. Ambition to become the central point of collegiate football outside the US and working hard at making next year’s Croke Park Classic live up to its name. Fioal Bolger had an interesting approach on tax reliefs for corporate and sporting organisations who commit to a campaign of location branding around events on a world stage. How Barcelona and Alicante have captured enormous sailing events through smart thinking. Declan Byrne of Titan Marketing on the benefits from bringing a purpose built franchise like the Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon to Dublin and targeting niche markets in UK and US to think of Ireland and spend accordingly.
1230 David Fraser on the process behind turning a traditional sport like racing in the UK into one that has achieved the aims it thought were impossible at the beginning of a stakeholder review and reevaluation.
We will have more from the conference tomorrow morning but here are some of the tweets that have been shared at #SfBSportsTourism

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