FÁILTE IRELAND has confirmed that matching sponsorship for its €4 million investment in the Volvo Ocean Race final in Galway has “not been readily available”.
However, “in-kind support” of equivalent value has been “leveraged”, according to the national tourism authority, which has predicted a “spectacular” event.
The €4 million granted by the Government for the final is the largest single investment by Fáilte Ireland in such an event this year.
The amount is half that given in direct funding for the first race stopover in Ireland in 2009, but there is no Irish boat competing in the 2011-12 round-world race, and the 2012 festival is shorter.
Former tourism minister Martin Cullen stipulated that the €4 million of State funding would be provided on basis of a solid business proposal, a detailed breakdown of bid costs, and a level of advance private sector commitments and funding. The terms were outlined in a letter sent by Mr Cullen in February 2010 to the Let’s Do It Global organisers of the Galway stopover.
Fáilte Ireland said “commercial sensitivities” prevented it from confirming how much private sector sponsorship had been raised to date by the organisers.
No risk analysis had been necessary, given the “benefits” of 2009, calculated subsequently by Deloitte consultants for the tourism board. Deloitte said the race stopover had generated an estimated €56 million for Galway and Ireland and had attracted 650,000 spectators, with a global television audience of 1.3 billion.
Fáilte Ireland said there would be a “large contingent” of overseas visitors and the event would “do better, if not as well” as in 2009.
Whereas in 2009 all shore events were free, the organisers are running both free and ticket-only events in a bid to recoup costs. A full programme of events is due to be published later this month.
