As the British Open golf championship at Royal St George’s in Sandwich gets under way this week, Tourism Ireland is rolling out a ‘Major’ golf tourism campaign, worth €2.2 million, to capitalise on Rory McIlroy’s historic US Open victory at Congressional.
The campaign is designed to capitalise on the huge international media interest in Rory’s success. Around 34,000 articles appeared in more than 100 countries in the nine days after the US Open – with 18,000 articles appearing in the USA alone.
Niall Gibbons, Tourism Ireland Chief Executive, said: “Rory McIlroy’s victory at the US Open has placed golf in Ireland in the global spotlight and represents a huge opportunity. Tourism Ireland is focused on growing the number of golf tourists to Ireland in 2011 and beyond.
“Golf is the world’s largest sports-related travel market and Tourism Ireland is working hard to drive home the message that a golfing holiday in Ireland is about much more than a round of 18 holes – the combination of Ireland’s world-class golf product and our unique brand of hospitality plays a key role in attracting golfers to come here. Rory is a superb ambassador for the game and for the island of Ireland. We look forward to seeing him in action at the Irish Open in Killarney this summer!”
