Gaelic games not marketed enough for tourism

Gaelic games could be a money-spinning tourist attraction if properly marketed and promoted, two University of Ulster academics have claimed.

Husband and wife team, Adrian and Frances Devine, both lecturers in the School of Hotel, Leisure and Tourism, said Gaelic games offer tourists three essential ingredients - excitement, sporting excellence and a unique experience.

Despite this, they said, the GAA remains one of Ireland’s best-kept secrets.

Gaelic football currently attracts huge numbers of supporters to games with 1.3 million people attending this year’s senior football all-Ireland championships, which ended at the weekend with Tyrone lifting the Sam Maguire Cup in front of a crowd of more than 82,000 people at Croke Park.

The researchers said that sports tourism is a very lucrative niche market. In 2001, 1.8 million overseas visitors to the UK (8% of the total number of visitors from abroad) either watched or participated in sport during their stay, spending £1.4bn, 12% of total income from tourists.

Gaelic games, the researchers said, should be promoted in the same way as kick boxing in Thailand, martial arts in Japan and bull fighting in Spain - a sport unique to Ireland.

A survey conducted by the researchers among 414 tourists in Antrim, Tyrone, Derry and Donegal found that only 12.3% of them were familiar with the GAA yet more than 68% said they would be interested in either playing or watching a sport unique to Ireland. All of the business tourists said they would like to see a Gaelic football or hurling match during their stay.

“If promoted properly, the link between the GAA and the image it portrays can be exploited to attract overseas visitors to Ireland. All Gaelic games are amateur, drug-free and family orientated - admirable qualities in today’s sporting arena," the researchers concluded.

(MB/SP)