Apr 9, 2015
SCHEDULE
Thursday 14th May
– Shannon Airport European Sport Tourism Summit 2015
– Shannon Group European Sport Tourism Awards 2015
Friday 15th May
– European Sport Tourism Industry Expert Sessions
– European Sport Tourism Academic Conference
Register here:
http://sporttourismsummit.ie/event-registration/
EUROPEAN SPORT TOURISM SUMMIT 2015 – Thursday 14th May
The Shannon Airport European Sport Tourism Summit is the largest sport tourism event in Europe. CEOs, directors and key decision makers from the world of sport and tourism will provide insights into what works for sport, sports bodies, events and destinations in creating a sustainable approach to the fastest growing global tourism sector.
The Shannon Airport European Sport Tourism Summit 2015 is being held in Thomond Park Stadium, Limerick on Thursday 14th and Friday 15th May 2015; a city synonymous with sport tourism as European City of Sport 2011 and National City of Culture 2014. The 2 day event has a share of international speakers, expert practical and technical sessions, an international academic conference, VIP Sports Lounge, networking and the 1st European Sport Tourism Awards.
DOWNLOAD 2015 PROGRAMME
EUROPEAN SPORT TOURISM AWARDS – Thursday 14th May
The Shannon Group European Sport Tourism Awards will recognise the best in sport tourism from events, destinations of all sizes, marketing sponsorship activation and social media use across Europe. The awards will mark the success of destination marketing organisations, rights holders and marketing specialists who are directly involved in the sport tourism sector across Europe. The Awards ceremony will be hosted on the evening of Thursday 14th May in King Johns Castle, Limerick. Nominations will be accepted from January 1st to April 27th with the shortlist announced in early May.
ENTER AWARDS
SPORT TOURISM INDUSTRY EXPERT SESSIONS – Friday 15th May
The European Sport Tourism Summit 2015 will host a series of expert sessions with speakers from international bid companies, mega events, sponsorship and global brands providing practical advice on enhancing sport tourism activation. These sessions are a technical and practical insight from international experts on event planning and delivery, sponsorship, digital marketing, bidding, operations and impact evaluation.
DOWNLOAD INDUSTRY EXPERT PROGRAMME
EUROPEAN SPORT TOURISM ACADEMIC CONFERENCE – Friday 15th May
The European Sport Tourism Academic Conference is coordinated by The Centre of Sport, Tourism and Leisure Studies of the University of Brighton in association with W2 Consulting. The conference will consist of feature presentations, a panel discussion on the state of sport and tourism and links between academia and industry as well as paper presentations from academics across Europe and internationally.
DOWNLOAD ACADEMIC PROGRAMME CALL FOR PAPERS
SPORTCAL VIP SPORTS LOUNGE – Thursday 14th & Friday 15th May
The SportCal VIP Sports Lounge presents an opportunity to meet international sport tourism experts including rights holders, federations, event organisers and host destinations. The Sports Lounge is open to industry VIPs and senior executives to network and create business opportunities, expand connections and develop growth in the sport tourism industry. Delegates can attend the Sports Lounge over the course of the 2 day Summit.
MEET THE BUYERS
Apr 8, 2015
SETTING a new high in Irish sporting achievement, 19 year-old Bertram Allen has today (Tuesday) entered the top ten of the world’s best show jumping riders.
In the official Longines World Rider Rankings, which measure the monthly performances of over 2,000 riders internationally, Wexford-born Allen has today for the first time achieved tenth position, putting him amongst the global elite of the sport.
With two recent World Cup Qualifying competition wins under his belt, Allen has 2355 points in the Longines rankings today, with Germany’s Daniel Deusser in the lead with 2825 points.
The teenager won his first ever World Cup competition at Verona late last year aboard Ballywalter Farms’s mare Molly Malone V, and then followed that up in February with another win at Verona in Italy on Billy Twomey’s stallion Romanov, a horse which also gave him victory in the German Grand Prix at Dortmund in March.
Allen is also the only Irish rider to qualify for the FEI World Cup final at Las Vegas in April, and is now one of the favourites to take the trophy. If he does, he will be the youngest rider in 30 years to achieve this honour, and the first show jumper from Ireland to claim first place. The nearest Ireland has come to taking the World Cup crown were runner-up places from Trevor Coyle and the legendary Cruising in 1999 and Jessica Kurten with Castle Forbes Libertina in 2006. Eddie Macken and Carrolls of Dundalk also placed third in the World Cup Final in 1979.
Allen says of his methods: “You have to be dedicated, relaxed and quiet. Horses have to live and work in a simple, natural way. You have to do what is necessary to be where you want to be. You have to improve yourself by learning from the best, and then the opportunities will come.”
Mar 31, 2015
The Grant Thornton Corporate 5k Team Challenge is back by popular demand in the Dublin Docklands on Tuesday 1st of September for the fourth year in a row. It is also expanding to two new locations the National Sports Campus in Fingal on Wednesday 13th of May and The Mall, Cork City on Tuesday 30th of June. The Corporate Challenge is organised by the national governing body Athletics Ireland as one of their key fundraising events to support young emerging athletes. Participants are encouraged to fundraise for the chosen charity the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children through my.charity.ie. The ISPCC will also receive 10% of all entrants’ fees. http://www.grantthorntoncorporatechallenge.ie/
In 2014 entries hit a record high of close to 1000 teams or 4000 participants. Given the success of the race it will be rolled out to two new locations to allow more of the business community to experience this unique event. The new locations and dates are the National Sports Campus in Fingal on Wednesday 13th of May and The Mall, Cork City on Tuesday 30th of June with the flagship event taking place in the Dublin Docklands on Tuesday 1st of September.
The Corporate Challenge is organised by the national governing body Athletics Ireland whose mission is to support and develop the athletes of Ireland of all ages, disciplines and abilities. Aimed at encouraging social running amongst the business community in Dublin and Cork, the event welcomes both seasoned runners as well as beginners. Each run will be a team event and a minimum of four participants will enter with team members’ times combined to determine the winner.
Paul McCann, Managing Partner with Grant Thornton said: “The Corporate Challenge is a great opportunity to build team spirit and to create a sense of healthy competition. This event goes from strength to strength every year with more people participating. We are delighted to partner with Athletics Ireland and to support the work that they do to promote fitness and making a difference to young promising athletes.”
“We recognise the importance of promoting fitness and by supporting this event, we also hope that we are enhancing the awareness of the important role it can play in the workplace. In addition, it’s a great opportunity to raise some funds for charity and this year, 10% of each entry fee to each Challenge will go to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) to support the work it is doing to build stronger, healthier families, who can cope with challenges, solve problems and raise happy, resilient children.”
Event Ambassador, Olympian and former London Marathon winner Catherina McKiernan commented on last year’s run, “There was a great buzz and atmosphere. While there was a certain competitive edge to it, there was a little more banter than what I would be use to at the start of a race. As an athlete it gave my heart a lift to see so many people out running and keeping themselves fit and healthy”.
John Foley, Chief Executive of Athletics Ireland, said “As an association one of our core strategic objectives is to promote health and fitness in the population as a whole. This event enables us to reach beyond our core membership into the business community by encouraging them to focus on a fitness programme which targets a 5k run; a good starter point for novice runners. We are delighted that we are adding new locations and we can extend this positive impact to over 7600 participants.”
Foley added: “Financial stability is central to delivery of our strategic plans, in addition to funds received from the Irish Sports Council we generate 50% of our own revenue. Grant Thornton’s sponsorship of this event allows for it to be a revenue earner for the association with profits generated channelled into our Junior High Performance Athletics programmes. These programmes provide support and expertise to close to 100 of our emerging young athletes to help them to fulfil their potential.”
Entry fee is €100 for a team of four, all events are chipped timed for accuracy and there is a t-shirt and goody bag for all participates.
Participants are encouraged to fundraise for the chosen charity Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) through mycharity.ie.
To ENTER your team now and download Catherina McKiernan’s training programme go to www.grantthorntoncorporatechallenge.ie.
Mar 23, 2015
Mar 13, 2015
Getting more people, more active, more often is a challenge to public health right around the globe. This is not surprising given that physical activity has been described as an underrated “wonder drug”. It is not difficult to see why when regular physical activity is a factor in weight control, improves mental health and well-being, strengthens bones & muscles, reduces the risk of certain cancers, type 2 diabetes and heart disease not to mention increases the probability of living longer!
UK research has found that only about 18% of the adult population are aware of the minimum amount of physical activity levels required to maintain health & wellbeing – 60 minutes a day for children & 30 minutes, 5 days a week for adults.
Physical activity is about more than sport. It involves active transport, environmental conditions that promote physical activity, awareness and education are just some of the factors. However, it is clear that sport has a key role to play of growing and contributing to physical activity in Ireland. Here are 5 reasons why:
- There is an increase in no. of days/weeks children hit the 60 min daily target if they take part in community based sport/physical activity
- People who are members of a club spend less sedentary time each day (4.7 hours v 4.0 hours)
- There would be a 26% reduction in obesity prevalence if all adolescents played on 2 sports teams per year
- Adolescents who are highly active in sport are 8 times more likely to be engaged in physical activity as young adults
- Adults are more likely to be physically active in their free time if they were involved in organised sport as children
