Minister for Tourism should assist Kerry’s bid to host International Children’s Games - McEllistrim

Posted on 17/11/10 by Tom McEllistrim

Kerry North Fianna Fáil TD Thomas McEllistrim has called on the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport to assist Kerry with its bid to host the International Children’s Games (ICG) in Tralee in 2015. Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy McEllistrim called for Minister Mary Hanafin to lend her support to the bid, which will be presented to the ICG international executive in 2012.

 

Speaking on the subject, Deputy McEllistrim said, “The International Children’s Games (ICG) and Cultural Festival is an annual sports event which has evolved, since its inception in 1968 in Celje, Slovenia, into the largest multi sport youth tournament in the world. More than 32,000 children take part in the games in their own countries and more than 1,500 athletes, on average, from all over the world, take part in a range of sports events determined by the host venue each year.”

 

“In addition to the athletes approximately 2,500 overseas visitors attend the games as part of the extended visiting delegations. To date there have been 42 summer games and three winter games hosted across 21 different countries. Tralee has been participating in the ICG since 2005 when they received an invite to attend the games hosted in Coventry and teams from Tralee have subsequently participated annually in venues as diverse as Bangkok, Reykjavik, San Francisco, Athens and Bahrain.”

 

“The experience of attending the games has led to strong support locally to put forward the case to host the 2015 games in Kerry. As part of the initial campaign for Kerry to host the games, the Executive Committee of the ICG were invited to undertake a fact–finding visit in Tralee in April 2008. Letters of intent to host the games were issued by Kerry County Council and Tralee Town Council.”

 

“A feasibility study was commissioned to determine the financial implications of hosting the games in Kerry in addition to assessing the existing facilities. The next phase will involve bid presentation to the international executive in 2012. In advance of the bid the Kerry ICG will have to secure financial backing for the organisation and hosting of the games in Kerry and will require the support of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport.”

 

“Kerry has a long established reputation of hosting major international sports events and its reputation as an international tourism destination highlights its capacity to organise and host international events. Kerry has the largest accommodation stock outside of Dublin while possessing a rich cultural and heritage tourism product range that will facilitate the cultural element of the games. Recent announcements in relation to the new sports complex development at the IT Tralee will provide the county with a top class sports hub to centralise the planning, organisation and hosting of international sports events.”

 

“The proposed sports complex for IT Tralee will provide a modern sporting hub to host the 2015 event. Notwithstanding the fact that the additional facilities for the IT Tralee would deliver a significant resource for the county it requires every level of support in order to deliver it on its current timescale of 2012/2013. The absence of a suitable swimming pool in the county will be offset by the inclusion of a facility in IT Tralee.”

 

“I believe that the decision to invest in the bid for ICG Tralee 2015 as a means of creating a considerable economic impact should be strongly supported. ICG 2015 has the capacity to generate an overall economic impact for Kerry of between €5.6m and €7.8m against an expenditure on games preparation and hosting in the region of €2.0m (based on 100 teams taking part).”

 

“The event has the scope to attract in the region of up to 6,800 attendees resulting in approximately 20,000 bed nights for the region over the course of the games. Potential returns to the exchequer are €1.68m rising to €2.326m based on 120 participating cities.”

 

“It is estimated that the media value for Kerry will be between the range of €3.2m and €4.8m – from the global exposure that will result in latent tourism spend. The ability to centralise the event at IT Tralee offers immediate savings while the ability to leverage local support in terms of value in kind contributions and volunteerism will make a considerable reduction in costs.”

 

“At a minimum it is apparent that the projected cash requirements would be in the region of €1.8m – €2.0m based on the ability to generate local support and the number of teams likely participating in the event. The organising committee must raise an additional €40,000 to meet the bid costs based on the quality of submissions from previous games.”

 

“The feasibility study has recommended that the costs of the bid will be met by contributions from local groups and agencies that will benefit from the economic and promotional impact of the games across Kerry. It has proposed that a minimum of €40,000 is sought from statutory and marketing agencies to underwrite the costs of the final bid.”

 

“ICG 2015 will generate a considerably higher return on investment than the anticipated costs for hosting the games. It should be noted that the economic impact estimates are calculated using cautious multiplier figures in order not to overstate the level of economic impact that can accrue locally.”

 

“An investment of a total of €2 million is needed to host the investment from different sources. The support of Government or national tourism bodies would be the most favoured solution based on their experience in dealing with large scale sports events and realising the return of their investment, for example, exchequer returns and tourism promotion.”

 

“Bringing the International Children’s Games to Tralee would be a sound investment in both the short term and the long term. The benefits in terms of tourism, culture and sport are self evident. Tralee has the capacity to accommodate an influx of young athletes with their families, coaches, officials and supporters. The central location of IT Tralee as a base for the games is obvious. The investment promised for the facility is vital to the bid.”

 

“The Government should support the bid wholeheartedly as a project with the potential to bring considerable benefits to Tralee and to County Kerry and I ask that the Minister look favourably on it. It may not be the Olympics but for the children of Kerry, it’s the next best thing,” Deputy McEllistrim concluded.