Excitement is growing in the travel industry for the inaugural Irish Travel Trade Charity Family Fun Day in aid of Pieta House and Irish Cancer Society, which takes place this Saturday, 1st September 2012, at the ALSAA Sports Club, Dublin Airport. 
The organisers are delighted with the online response already, including the mixed 5-A-Side football for which all the entry spaces are now full. Ciaran Mulligan of Blue Insurances said: “It’s all-out battle in the 5-A-Side with Blue Insurances, Etihad Airways, Tour America, Royal Caribbean, Thomas Cook, Travelport, Turkish Airlines, Star Alliance, 1STS, Tropical Medical Bureau, OSG and Mapfre all entering a team or more.
Teams are already in training, with Lorraine Quinn of Royal Caribbean International and Dave Walsh of Etihad Airways already off the chocolate and on the fruit – allegedly! The match groups will be announced at 3pm tomorrow, Tuesday 28th August, on the website travelfunday.ie.”
The organisers are reminding people to register online on Travelfunday.ie as it will make it easier for people when they arrive on the day, even though registration is available on the day.
The 5K Fun Run/Walk, which starts at 1pm on the day, has an increasing number of entries with some participants using it to help them for Marathon running in October. Some participants are also walking the course in order to collect money for the two great charities. Yvonne Muldoon of United said: “The run will be a great start to the Family Fun Day with all participants starting and ending on the ALSAA running track – and it’s great to see a lot of families with children participating in the fun run too.’
The committee are also excited about the Raffle, which will take place on the day in ALSAA. Karen Maloney of Etihad Airways said: “We have over 15 prizes, including a weekend in New York, a cruise holiday, flights to Abu Dhabi, a sun holiday to Turkey … plus a lot more!”
Sinead Reilly of Travelport is reminding everyone that there will be a number of fun events for all ages, such as egg and spoon racing, sack racing, bouncy castles, inflatable sumo wrestling, giant Jenga, and much more. A BBQ will run from 2pm until 5pm to stave off any hungers pains and to keep energy levels high. The Halleluiah Gospel Choir will also perform from 4.45pm until 5.30pm.
Philip Airey of Sunway and Catherine Brennan of Travelport, who are also on the organising committee, would like to thank all the sponsors, who are growing each day. The event, which is the first of its kind, was launched earlier this year by travel journalist Kathryn Thomas and has been organised by familiar names from across the industry and the event is for everyone in the travel industry, family and friends.
Everyone is now being encouraged to get involved in the event in any way that they can, such as sponsorship, fundraising or attending on the day, to help make this charity event an annual fixture in the all-Ireland travel industry calendar.
For further information and registration details, visit www.travelfunday.ie
Find Travel Fun Day on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/travelfunday
