An American Football game may have robbed Mayo and Kerry fans of the opportunity to watch the All-Ireland semi-final replay in Croke Park today, but the game is bringing a welcome boost to the tourism industry here.
An estimated 20,000 overseas visitors are in Dublin to watch the University of Central Florida “host” Penn State in their 2014 season opener. This makes the event one of the biggest draws to Ireland after St Patrick’s Day for US visitors.
Some 76,500 visitors from the US and Canada came here in March, many of them arriving around St Patrick’s Day.
A GAA spokesman said that, by Thursday night, more than 50,000 of the 56,000 tickets had been sold. He said 16,000 fans had made the trip from the US, and a further 4,000 from Britain and the rest of Europe, while home-based supporters would make up the rest.
“The breakdown is said to be 12,000 from Penn State and 4,000 from University of Central Florida,” he said.
It has been estimated that the Croke Park Classic game is worth up to €30 million to the economy. Some of the immediate benefits could be seen in Dublin’s Temple Bar yesterday, where football fans carrying Guinness Storehouse bags flocked around Meeting House Square.
Sightseeing
Many visitors arrived earlier this week and have been sightseeing around Ireland since then.
"We arrived in last Monday and travelled all around," said Jackie Yanock, a Penn State fan. "We've done lots of things. We were in Kerry earlier in the week and then we kissed the Blarney Stone yesterday. We're having an awesome time. I just love your city."
The football fans have brought a whole new vocabulary to the city with talk of pep rallies and tailgating parties. Tracy O’Reilly was selling UCF, Penn State and Ireland scarves and T-shirts to passersby in Temple Bar. “It feels like there are 10 times the amount of Penn State fans here,” she observed.
But the Florida visitors were making their voices heard too. A group of UCF cheerleaders were standing outside the Fleet Street Hotel in Temple Bar, getting ready for a pep rally down the street. Pete Garcia said he was one of 16 cheerleaders who travelled from Orlando.
“But a bunch more fans came too. We got here Wednesday morning and we went touring Ireland. We don’t get experiences like this ever so this is pretty cool.”
Fellow cheerleader Julia Oliva singled out Drimnagh Castle as a highlight. "Oh my God, it's amazing here," she said. "We don't have castles at home, just lots of buildings."
‘Terrific weekend’
Stephen McNally, president of the
Irish Hotels Federation
, said it was shaping up to be “a terrific weekend” for hotels and other tourism businesses. “Bookings are very strong throughout the city for what would traditionally be a quieter weekend in the domestic market. That said there are still rooms available at good rates for those considering a trip to the capital over the weekend.”
Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons said sports-related tourism had emerged as a very significant element of the global travel business in recent years "and this game is another wonderful hook for us to highlight Ireland in the all-important US market. We have put in place a busy promotional programme to capitalise on the wonderful exposure offered by the match – including our TV campaign which will be seen by millions of people this week".
