IRISH SPORT MATTERS TO
TOURISM

• Sport is seen as one of the fastest growing niches of the $4.5 trillion global tourism industry
• In 2009 the British Tourist Authority found that 3 million tourists spent £2.3 billion in the UK watching and playing sport
• In the UK a “sporty” tourist was found to spend approximately £900 per trip compared to the £500 spent by and “ordinary” tourist
• In Canada it is estimated that 38% of all domestic tourism is due to sport
• It is estimated that sport-related tourism supports almost 3,000 jobs
• The golfing community in Ireland welcomes about 150,000 visitors every year contributing approximately €110 million to the economy
• The Special Olympics Ireland Games delivered 24,000 bed nights for Limerick with the average expenditure of attendees visiting and staying in Limerick for the event was €390
• 830,000 visitors came to Ireland in 2009 to participate in hill & cross-country walking spending an estimated €494 million
• Over 13,000 people from 83 different countries took part in the Dublin City Marathon on 25th October 2010
• 114,000 cyclists came to Ireland in 2009 spending an estimated €97million
• Mountaineering Ireland was involved in the staging of over 50 walking and climbing festivals in 2010 attracting tourists from home and abroad