GAA bid to attract 1,000 tourists

[Kerry Mike]

About fecking time they did a bit of promotion for our games. Been saying this for years, lets see if they make a hand of it ?



GAA bid to attract 1,000 tourists to games By Fintan O'Toole - Friday, May 06, 2011

CROKE PARK chiefs are set to launch a campaign to attract tourists to inter-county championship games which could inject up to €600,000 annually into the association's coffers.

The pilot scheme is seeking to attract 1,000 foreign visitors to football and hurling clashes, starting with the All-Ireland SFC campaign.

Stadium director Peter McKenna believes the time has come for Ireland's national games to be marketedproperly and make Croke Park a tourist attraction.

"If you go to New York, they'reselling a baseball or ice hockey game depending on the time of year, if you go to Thailand it's kickboxing, if you go to Spain maybe it is bullfighting," he said. "We felt it was exactly the same opportunity here. Our marketing person, Julie Manahan, has spent a lot of time on this. We've got a dedicated programme now to attract tourists coming into the city to go to a match.

"We're trying to pull together a tourist package so that when people come here. They can enjoy the day and get a tour of the museum, and get an introduction to the game through a tour guide."

McKenna outlined the project will be reviewed after the first year and that there will then be a better understanding in relation to purchase patterns.

"For the first year I'd see this as cost neutral with whatever advertising we'd put in. It is reasonably expensive to put it out. You've a scatter gun approach first of all, look to break even and then cut back to make it successful and build on it. It's a very strong audience to look at. This year is more of a pilot as well to find out what the purchase patterns are. It is going to be very much internet driven when people are making their bookings. We'll find out what is the best avenue for us to market the product through.

"It is about getting it across to people that this is quintessentially the Irish experience. So many people are sports fanatics and would you get a better afternoon's entertainment than we would have seen with Dublin and Kilkenny last Sunday?"

Meanwhile, McKenna revealed the cost of maintaining Croke Park on an annual basis is now around €3m and that burst pipes during freezingweather conditions caused serious problems.

"We had an awful series of costs that came because of the hard winter. Many of the exposed pipes running through the building burst. That type of work ran into the hundreds ofthousands. Your usual bill for the course of the year wouldn't be too shy of €3m. We extensively refurbished the whole premium level at the end of last year as well. That was an important statement to those people who have been with us for ten years, that they're coming back to a completely refurbished environment."

[Banana Man]

About fecking time they did a bit of promotion for our games. Been saying this for years, lets see if they make a hand of it ?



GAA bid to attract 1,000 tourists to games By Fintan O'Toole - Friday, May 06, 2011

CROKE PARK chiefs are set to launch a campaign to attract tourists to inter-county championship games which could inject up to €600,000 annually into the association's coffers.

The pilot scheme is seeking to attract 1,000 foreign visitors to football and hurling clashes, starting with the All-Ireland SFC campaign.

Stadium director Peter McKenna believes the time has come for Ireland's national games to be marketedproperly and make Croke Park a tourist attraction.

"If you go to New York, they'reselling a baseball or ice hockey game depending on the time of year, if you go to Thailand it's kickboxing, if you go to Spain maybe it is bullfighting," he said. "We felt it was exactly the same opportunity here. Our marketing person, Julie Manahan, has spent a lot of time on this. We've got a dedicated programme now to attract tourists coming into the city to go to a match.

"We're trying to pull together a tourist package so that when people come here. They can enjoy the day and get a tour of the museum, and get an introduction to the game through a tour guide."

McKenna outlined the project will be reviewed after the first year and that there will then be a better understanding in relation to purchase patterns.

"For the first year I'd see this as cost neutral with whatever advertising we'd put in. It is reasonably expensive to put it out. You've a scatter gun approach first of all, look to break even and then cut back to make it successful and build on it. It's a very strong audience to look at. This year is more of a pilot as well to find out what the purchase patterns are. It is going to be very much internet driven when people are making their bookings. We'll find out what is the best avenue for us to market the product through.

"It is about getting it across to people that this is quintessentially the Irish experience. So many people are sports fanatics and would you get a better afternoon's entertainment than we would have seen with Dublin and Kilkenny last Sunday?"

Meanwhile, McKenna revealed the cost of maintaining Croke Park on an annual basis is now around €3m and that burst pipes during freezingweather conditions caused serious problems.

"We had an awful series of costs that came because of the hard winter. Many of the exposed pipes running through the building burst. That type of work ran into the hundreds ofthousands. Your usual bill for the course of the year wouldn't be too shy of €3m. We extensively refurbished the whole premium level at the end of last year as well. That was an important statement to those people who have been with us for ten years, that they're coming back to a completely refurbished environment."

This raises further questions for me, in this supposedly amateur organisation, just how many full time employees are there and what is the pay structure? who appoints them? who interviews etc

[Tubberman]

About fecking time they did a bit of promotion for our games. Been saying this for years, lets see if they make a hand of it ?



GAA bid to attract 1,000 tourists to games By Fintan O'Toole - Friday, May 06, 2011

CROKE PARK chiefs are set to launch a campaign to attract tourists to inter-county championship games which could inject up to €600,000 annually into the association's coffers.

The pilot scheme is seeking to attract 1,000 foreign visitors to football and hurling clashes, starting with the All-Ireland SFC campaign.

Stadium director Peter McKenna believes the time has come for Ireland's national games to be marketedproperly and make Croke Park a tourist attraction.

"If you go to New York, they'reselling a baseball or ice hockey game depending on the time of year, if you go to Thailand it's kickboxing, if you go to Spain maybe it is bullfighting," he said. "We felt it was exactly the same opportunity here. Our marketing person, Julie Manahan, has spent a lot of time on this. We've got a dedicated programme now to attract tourists coming into the city to go to a match.

"We're trying to pull together a tourist package so that when people come here. They can enjoy the day and get a tour of the museum, and get an introduction to the game through a tour guide."

McKenna outlined the project will be reviewed after the first year and that there will then be a better understanding in relation to purchase patterns.

"For the first year I'd see this as cost neutral with whatever advertising we'd put in. It is reasonably expensive to put it out. You've a scatter gun approach first of all, look to break even and then cut back to make it successful and build on it. It's a very strong audience to look at. This year is more of a pilot as well to find out what the purchase patterns are. It is going to be very much internet driven when people are making their bookings. We'll find out what is the best avenue for us to market the product through.

"It is about getting it across to people that this is quintessentially the Irish experience. So many people are sports fanatics and would you get a better afternoon's entertainment than we would have seen with Dublin and Kilkenny last Sunday?"

Meanwhile, McKenna revealed the cost of maintaining Croke Park on an annual basis is now around €3m and that burst pipes during freezingweather conditions caused serious problems.

"We had an awful series of costs that came because of the hard winter. Many of the exposed pipes running through the building burst. That type of work ran into the hundreds ofthousands. Your usual bill for the course of the year wouldn't be too shy of €3m. We extensively refurbished the whole premium level at the end of last year as well. That was an important statement to those people who have been with us for ten years, that they're coming back to a completely refurbished environment."

This raises further questions for me, in this supposedly amateur organisation, just how many full time employees are there and what is the pay structure? who appoints them? who interviews etc

Don't be daft. In an organisation the size of the GAA, of course you need full-time staff. Especially so if you want to compete with the other sporting organisations for a big slice of the market.
The jobs are publicly advertised as far as I'm aware - have seen some ads for roles before.

[Denn Forever]

Hope it works.

Although tourists should be warned before they go to a hurling match.  Yes, there is no protective gears used.

[Banana Man]

About fecking time they did a bit of promotion for our games. Been saying this for years, lets see if they make a hand of it ?



GAA bid to attract 1,000 tourists to games By Fintan O'Toole - Friday, May 06, 2011

CROKE PARK chiefs are set to launch a campaign to attract tourists to inter-county championship games which could inject up to €600,000 annually into the association's coffers.

The pilot scheme is seeking to attract 1,000 foreign visitors to football and hurling clashes, starting with the All-Ireland SFC campaign.

Stadium director Peter McKenna believes the time has come for Ireland's national games to be marketedproperly and make Croke Park a tourist attraction.

"If you go to New York, they'reselling a baseball or ice hockey game depending on the time of year, if you go to Thailand it's kickboxing, if you go to Spain maybe it is bullfighting," he said. "We felt it was exactly the same opportunity here. Our marketing person, Julie Manahan, has spent a lot of time on this. We've got a dedicated programme now to attract tourists coming into the city to go to a match.

"We're trying to pull together a tourist package so that when people come here. They can enjoy the day and get a tour of the museum, and get an introduction to the game through a tour guide."

McKenna outlined the project will be reviewed after the first year and that there will then be a better understanding in relation to purchase patterns.

"For the first year I'd see this as cost neutral with whatever advertising we'd put in. It is reasonably expensive to put it out. You've a scatter gun approach first of all, look to break even and then cut back to make it successful and build on it. It's a very strong audience to look at. This year is more of a pilot as well to find out what the purchase patterns are. It is going to be very much internet driven when people are making their bookings. We'll find out what is the best avenue for us to market the product through.

"It is about getting it across to people that this is quintessentially the Irish experience. So many people are sports fanatics and would you get a better afternoon's entertainment than we would have seen with Dublin and Kilkenny last Sunday?"

Meanwhile, McKenna revealed the cost of maintaining Croke Park on an annual basis is now around €3m and that burst pipes during freezingweather conditions caused serious problems.

"We had an awful series of costs that came because of the hard winter. Many of the exposed pipes running through the building burst. That type of work ran into the hundreds ofthousands. Your usual bill for the course of the year wouldn't be too shy of €3m. We extensively refurbished the whole premium level at the end of last year as well. That was an important statement to those people who have been with us for ten years, that they're coming back to a completely refurbished environment."

This raises further questions for me, in this supposedly amateur organisation, just how many full time employees are there and what is the pay structure? who appoints them? who interviews etc

Don't be daft. In an organisation the size of the GAA, of course you need full-time staff. Especially so if you want to compete with the other sporting organisations for a big slice of the market.
The jobs are publicly advertised as far as I'm aware - have seen some ads for roles before.

don't get me wrong i realise there is a need for some full time staff but the more articles i read i hear about permanent secretarys, directors, marketing people etc, now the county board secretarys are fully paid, i would be interested to know just how many people are making a full time living out of this 'amateur' organisation....

[Kerry Mike]

i would be interested to know just how many people are making a full time living out of this 'amateur' organisation....

Every county probably has a full time person or two at this stage and maybe many more if you count in coaches for schools underage etc, then you have the provincial councils, they probably have 4-6 full timers each and Croke Park has a whole wad of people, wouldn't be surprised if 100 people or more are employed by the GAA and I'm not counting managers in that !

But I find it hard to believe there is a full time marketing manager , we just dont seem to be seeing the results of this ?

[thewobbler]

Bananaman, much as we would like it to be otherwise, it's simply not possible to provide the structures our games need without a large bank of paid employees.

[Banana Man]

No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og

But as Kerry Mike says -  a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something

it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true

[5 Sams]

No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og

But as Kerry Mike says -  a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something

it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true

...and that was the Dublin Co Board that came up with that afaik.

[Banana Man]

No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og

But as Kerry Mike says -  a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something

it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true

...and that was the Dublin Co Board that came up with that afaik.

that's what i thought!

[Tubberman]

No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og

But as Kerry Mike says -  a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something

it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true

...and that was the Dublin Co Board that came up with that afaik.

that's what i thought!

Agree with you there. The marketing of GAA games by the GAA (as opposed to sponsors etc) is very amateurish!
So to hear there is a permanent marketing manager (presumably solely dedicated to marketing the games) is a bit surprising. Does anyone know how long she's in the job?

[Rois]

Croke Park is a reputable conference and events venue, and I wouldn't be surprised that they have a full time manager on the marketing of it, much like many such facilities.  I assume the marketing person is a Croke Park, rather than GAA, focused person.
I have certainly been a receipient of follow-up calls when equiring about, but subsequently not going with, Croke Park as a conference site for something I was organising. 

[AZOffaly]

No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og

But as Kerry Mike says -  a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something

it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true

...and that was the Dublin Co Board that came up with that afaik.

that's what i thought!

Agree with you there. The marketing of GAA games by the GAA (as opposed to sponsors etc) is very amateurish!
So to hear there is a permanent marketing manager (presumably solely dedicated to marketing the games) is a bit surprising. Does anyone know how long she's in the job?

Hold your horses their lads. Before the flogging, I thought McKenna referred to her as 'our marketing person'. That doesn't sound like a high powered Marketing Manager. I'd imagine that's someone in the Croke Park office who was told to see what she could do or think of?

If she is a Marketing Manager, then all criticism is valid I think.

[Banana Man]

No wobbler, i realise there is a few full time people on board - in Down alone there is Ambrose, Clarke and Benny as full time coaches, think a boy O'Dowd from Tullylish is another, plus Sean Og

But as Kerry Mike says -  a full time marketing manager, where is the results of this?? Is the 'Spring series with Jedward' the best we have to show for this? but i don't think it's worth it, unless i am totally missing something

it seems to be that the numbers who are getting a living are creeping up, never mind the managers being paid on the sly - it's time to call a spade a spade and this 'total amateur ethos' is not strictly true

...and that was the Dublin Co Board that came up with that afaik.

that's what i thought!

Agree with you there. The marketing of GAA games by the GAA (as opposed to sponsors etc) is very amateurish!
So to hear there is a permanent marketing manager (presumably solely dedicated to marketing the games) is a bit surprising. Does anyone know how long she's in the job?

Hold your horses their lads. Before the flogging, I thought McKenna referred to her as 'our marketing person'. That doesn't sound like a high powered Marketing Manager. I'd imagine that's someone in the Croke Park office who was told to see what she could do or think of?

If she is a Marketing Manager, then all criticism is valid I think.

fair point AZ - I'm not sure either, i'm just going by whatever info is in this article

[haranguerer]

So you want them to be amateur but you dont expect the work produced to be amateurish?

Of course theres a marketing manager. Of course they get paid. Results take time - this seems to be one initiative at least.

It would worry me much more if it was just someone in the office told to 'see what they could come up with'!!!