Hosting the opening stages of the 1998 Tour de France is a unique sporting event, scarcely ever to be repeated in Ireland. As such, it deserves a measure of indulgence for the inconvenience it will cause along the roads of the east coast, from Dublin to Enniscorthy to Cork. Traders in Dublin are complaining that shoppers will be unable to get to the shops. Cork Airport says it will effectively close down for three hours because the massive Tour infrastructure will monopolise the available radio frequencies, making communications in the air unsafe.
Omelettes do not get made without breaking eggs. It is true that the members of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and the users of Cork Airport may have an unhappy experience this weekend but they should have the vision to see that their interests will be very considerably advanced in the long term. The Tour will be broadcast on 35 television channels in over 100 countries across the globe. In addition, there will be an estimated 500 radio stations and 1,000 print journalists covering the Irish stages. It is worth enduring a couple of days' inconvenience, and even loss of trade, to win international coverage of this scale.
Bord Failte has cleverly identified sport as a way of promoting the country abroad. It supports prestige events like the Murphy's Irish Open, the Smurfit European Open, the AIB Seniors Open, the Ladies Irish Open, the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race and American football. It is not possible to quantify the value of this investment, but it is possible to say that tourism revenue in 1990 was £1.1 billion and £2.1 billion last year. The use of sport promotion and a 100 per cent increase in the value of tourism are hardly unconnected.
Increasingly, the challenge for countries like Ireland is to gain market share in tourism. The market is not growing that strongly for destinations which cannot guarantee sunshine. Ireland has a constant battle against its main competitors, Scotland and Scandinavia, which are perceived internationally as offering rather similar products. The coverage from the Tour de France is a marketing advantage well worth the £2.1 million the Irish taxpayer put up to win the opening stages.
Not all the advantage will accrue to tourism. An Bord Bia has sensibly decided that having so many journalists on hand is an opportunity the Irish food industry must not pass up. An Bord Bia says it will showcase the best of Irish produce during the three-day event, calling on the catering skills of local professionals.
The Tour is also benefitting from the huge enthusiasm of community groups such the 1798 Wexford pikemen who see a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to promote their county. Cork City will be en fete for the Sunday stage, when about 250,000 people are expected to line the Cork-Ringaskiddy route. It is unfortunate that the logistics of staging such an important event will cause inconvenience for some, but the balance of advantage is to give a rousing welcome to the Tour de France.