Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

A high-level coordinating group chaired by the Department is looking at the opportunities that may arise for Ireland across the sports, tourism and cultural sectors from the London 2012 Olympic Games. The group comprises representatives from Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland, the Arts Council, Culture Ireland, the Irish Sports Council, the Olympic Council of Ireland, Paralympic Council of Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

In terms of the tourism potential of the event, a number of specific initiatives are being undertaken by the tourism agencies to seek to maximise the potential benefits to Irish tourism of having the Olympics in London. These measures include working with the official tour operators responsible for co-ordinating the travel arrangements for athletes participating in the games to ensure that Ireland is included as a destination for pre and post-Olympics packages; arranging pre and post-Olympics familiarisation visits for key media contacts who are attending the London Olympics - these visits will showcase the sports facilities and cultural product on offer throughout Ireland; and targeting tourists from London who may wish to get away from the city when the games are in progress, by offering good value offers and packages linked to other events in Ireland and presenting Ireland as a place to escape to and relax.

Since there will be reduced accommodation and carrier capacity available for visitors who wish to travel to London when the Olympics are on, Tourism Ireland will also be working with British inbound tour operators to offer alternatives which would fill any gaps in their normal programmes, thereby diverting business to Ireland.

Fáilte Ireland supported University College Dublin in its recent launch as a potential Olympic Training camp venue and it is supporting the European Triathlon Championships this year in Athlone, which it is hoped will draw attention to Ireland and attract top names in the athletics world to participate and perhaps consider basing their pre-Olympic training here.

These are some of the practical areas of work that are under way. The high-level co-ordination group will continue to meet on an ongoing basis over the next two years. The tourism agencies are also working with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Bord Bia, as well as their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, VisitLondon and VisitBritain, to identify other opportunities to maximise the tourism potential of the London Olympics for Ireland.

See this speech in context