26 January 2012

Maurice Keller, Arlington Lodge; Margaret Jeffares, Managing Director of Good Food Ireland; Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar T.D.; Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, at the 'Ireland Day' during the stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race in Abu Dhabi.

Maurice Keller of Waterford's Arlington Lodge was in Abu Dhabi last week, flying the flag for Irish food during the third stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race. Maurice, together with other members of Good Food Ireland, joined Tourism Ireland and the Irish Embassy for a special 'Ireland Day' in the Volvo Ocean Race Village.

The 'Ireland Day' event was an excellent opportunity to showcase the island of Ireland as a fantastic holiday destination and is part of Tourism Ireland's publicity drive around the world during the nine-month race to reach a huge audience of potential holidaymakers. Through a day-long programme of Ireland-themed activities and entertainment – which included cookery demonstrations by Maurice and the Good Food Ireland members – the 'Ireland Day' event helped to bring the island of Ireland to life for the many visitors to the race village.

The Volvo Ocean Race attracts huge publicity – with billions of people around the globe seeing it on TV, reading about it and tuning in to hear about it on the radio. As the race makes its way towards its final destination of Galway this summer, Tourism Ireland is working in key markets where the race stops, to ensure that Galway and Ireland are in the spotlight.

Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said: "The Volvo Ocean Race attracts huge publicity around the world and with Galway due to host the grand finale, there's an ideal opportunity to showcase Ireland and the many attractions that the island has to offer as a holiday destination. The event is a great 'hook' for Tourism Ireland to reach a huge audience of potential holidaymakers."