The 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open gets underway today (1 July) at Mount Juliet and Fáilte Ireland is using its sponsorship of the event to highlight the importance of golf tourism to the national economy and showcase Ireland as a world-class golfing destination.
€300m in Revenue
Pre-Covid19, golf tourism was a hugely lucrative sector in Ireland generating €300 million in revenue and accounting for 1.6 million bed nights.
According to Fáilte Ireland, a golf visitor typically spends three times more than the average leisure tourist with most of the spend going directly into local economies on non-golf expenditure such as accommodation, transport and food and beverage.
The 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is one of 15 test events proceeding with spectators as agreed by the Government. Spectators will return to the island of Ireland’s national open for the first time since 2019, while a global TV audience of up to 350 million will have the opportunity to watch the event on over 30 global broadcast channels. This massive global audience will showcase Ireland over the next four days as a premier golfing destination.
The 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open returns to The Mount Juliet Estate in Ireland’s Ancient East for the fourth time and players Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell will compete.
A Significant Role
Speaking on the importance of golf tourism to Ireland, Head of Commercial Development at Fáilte Ireland, Paul Mockler said that golf “has always played a significant role in Irish tourism.”
“Ireland is world-renowned for our high-quality golf courses and the fact that in pre-Covid times we welcomed over 200,000 golf tourists each year is testament to this.
“Vitally, the spread of golf courses around the country offers a significant opportunity to drive tourism growth to all regions of Ireland and supports an extension of the tourism season – key focus areas of our work at Fáilte Ireland as we prepare for recovery.”
Brian O’Flynn, Head of Ireland’s Ancient East at Fáilte Ireland said: “Although in-person spectators at this year’s Irish Open will be in smaller numbers than previous years, the event will be broadcast to over 350 million homes worldwide.
“Viewers will be given a taste of just how spectacular Mount Juliet Estate, Kilkenny and Ireland’s Ancient East are, and this will inspire future international leisure and golf trips when it is safe to do so.”
The 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open will run from 1–4 July at the Mount Juliet Estate, Co. Kilkenny.