“When the deal was signed last Friday for the European Tour to bring the Irish Open back to Fota Island there was a palpable sense of excitement that this was a win not only for the resort but for the whole of Munster.”
Sport for Business caught up with Seamus Leahy, Marketing Director of Fota Island Resort this week and he was keen to point out that building an event for Cork and Munster to be proud of and which will attract international visitors South was central to their plans over the next six months.
“When Fota Island last hosted the Open in 2001 and 2002 we were just a golf club.”
“The resort we have today opened in 2006 and has moved the venue onto being one that can both cope with and benefit from the exposure that such a great event brings.”
“Even then Fota was setting record numbers for attendance at an Irish golf event and we are confident that the same will happen again now that it is back.”
“In terms of infrastructure Fota is a great spectator venue. We are convenient for the motorway network and have our own train station. Discussions have already started with Irish rail about the most effective way we can bring in the largest number of spectators.”
“Cork and Munster people are passionate about their sport.”
“We don’t get many major international events and so there is a pent up hunger to be part of a sporting spectacle that will attract some of the finest golfers in the world.”
“Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy have already been tweeting their excitement over coming in June and that has an impact on people’s plans for where they want to be as well.”
Fota Island resort was bought only in September 2013 by the Kang Family who have two five star properties in Beijing and Shanghai and fell in love with Ireland before buying the resort out of receivership for an estimated €20 million last year.
The Resort itself has always traded well with annual income of €10 million from the hotel, lodges, 27 hole golf course and golf academy. The family have left existing management in place and given full support to attracting major events. The return of the Open is a big win for the team in the early days.
It is also thought that the family will consider golf developments in China in the coming years and Ireland is in pole position to assist with the development of these.
At the time of the purchase the family emphasised the importance of tourism and urged the Government to act quickly on freeing up the process for obtaining visas for Chinese visitors, likely to be the largest single growth area in international tourism in the years to come.
“The Irish Open is the showpiece of Irish golf,” added Leahy. “This year we will come straight off the back of the US Open when Golf will be to the fore in sporting minds around the world.”
“We, together with the people and businesses of Cork and the wider Munster region are ready to show that there is nowhere better in the world for them to come for a holiday.”
Lesson for Sport: Be ambitious
Lesson for Business: Use sport as your passport to new international markets
