Irish Open legacy could transform tourism into £1bn industry
Ambitious plans after massive success of Portstewart tournament
Last updated 10th Jul 2017
Northern Ireland’s tourism chiefs have hailed the Irish Open in Portstewart a huge success.
And they believe they can catapult the industry into unprecedented levels over the next few years.
It was revealed yesterday that more than 90,000 spectators had passed through the tournament gates over the week – with 30,000 braving the inclement north coast weather to see Spaniard Jon Rahm take the title.
Susie Brown from Tourism NI told Downtown & Cool FM said they were now thinking big as they prepare to build on the success of this year’s competition.
“What is really important is what happens next where do we take tourism from here,” she said.
“We want to see golf tourism grow to a £50m industry by 2020 and tourism to a £1bn industry by 2025.
“There has been a super buzz about the place over the week.
“Northern Ireland is the home of golf our welcome is authentic – all eyes on the Open for Northern Ireland in 2019.”
Meanwhile, Colm McLoughlin, chief executive of Irish Open sponsors, Dubai Duty Free, said they, too, had ambitious plans to build on the tournament’s legacy.
He told us: “I would like to see this becoming better than the British Open – I would like to see it continue to grow.
“I would love to see the prize fund of 7m US dollars becomes 10m for example in a couple of years’ time and when we are talking to the European tour about a renewal or not that’s one of the things we would have on the agenda for discussion.”