DERRY JOURNAL Editorial: The Open is major shot to show off the North West as tourism destination
Over a quarter-of-a-million people are expected to have attended The Open in Portrush this week.
If the precedent of 2019 is followed two fifths will have come from overseas. Research from Sheffield Hallam showed 57.6% of spectators who witnessed Shane Lowry’s win six years ago were guests from abroad.
Tourists from the UK (20.2%), US (11.1%), Canada (2.3%) and Australia (2.1%) helped fuel an economic boon to the regional economy of £100m. The Causeway Coast & Glens area benefitted to the tune of £26.21m. Visitor numbers are forecast to grow from 237,750 in 2019 to approximately 280,000 this year with the economic benefit rising from £100m to £213m.
Exploiting events like The Open has been a policy objective of Derry City & Strabane District Council for years. The Council’s Tourism Strategy 2018-2025, for instance, explicitly committed to developing the ‘city as a hub for accessing world class golf courses and a base for major competitions’ citing The Open specifically.
In advance of the 2019 major Visit Derry’s Odhran Dunne, in written evidence to the NI Affairs Committee, advised it would ‘play a massive part in selling our tourism offering’ and showcasing ‘our tourism offering to millions of potential global consumers’.
The North West boasts some of the best Links courses in the world and there are only so many golf slots and beds on the North Coast for the influx of visitors. With 83% of those who visited in 2019 telling researchers they would be back within two years the opportunity is immense.