The Volvo Ocean Race Village is expected to generate up to one million visits after it arrives into Galway Docks for the ‘grand finale’ of the race in 2012; an event which is expected to bring a boom of up to €80 million for the local economy, the Connacht Tribune has learned.
 

And Let’s Do It Global – the organising committee which secured Galway as the finishing port – are expecting between 40,000 and 50,000 corporate guests alone for the event, which will include a closing ceremony and awards presentation.
 

Although the event will only last between eight and ten days, local organisers are confident it will be far bigger than the stopover last June.
 

The Let’s Do It team are confident that they can raise the €20m required to host the event and get the Green Dragon back in the water – already, the Government has pledged €4m.
 

As well as in-port racing in Galway Bay when the fleet of Volvo Open 70 boats arrive from twin city Lorient in France, the organisers are studying the logistics of a ‘round Ireland’ race which would last two to three days.
 

John Killeen of Let’s Do It Global told the Connacht Tribune: “To say it will be huge is a bit of an understatement, to be honest. Because this is the end of it, people will come and stay longer. It will be between eight and ten days, which includes two weekends.
 

“The Race Village will be much bigger. The final party will need a tented village for 5,000 people, so there are a lot of challenges facing us.
 

“The two largest throughputs during the race are the start and finish.

Last year, we had 650,000 visits in Galway, so we’d expect to exceed the one million mark. It’s a tremendous achievement, a great day for Ireland and I’m especially delighted for the people of Galway. They got behind us last year, and showed us what a great people we are and place we live,” said Mr Killeen.
 

He explained that the final will take place towards the end of June, when many Europeans take their annual holidays.
 

“It’s been pushed out, there’s no exact date yet, but it will be later in June, that’s because that’s the time when Europeans take their holidays. There’s the potential that we will have 40,000 to 50,000 corporate guests alone,” he said.
 

An Taoiseach Brian Cowen, the Let’s Do It Global team, and Knut Frostad, Chief Executive of the Volvo Ocean Race were in Dublin yesterday lunchtime (Wednesday) to sign the contract for Galway as the finishing port.
 

Speaking to the Connacht Tribune, Ocean Race Chief Knut Frostad praised Galwegians for the party atmosphere at the Race Village during the stopover last year, which played a major factor in securing the ‘grand finale’ for 2012.
 

“To get the finish of the event is a great achievement for Galway. It is a very iconic part of the route. Everybody around the world will remember where the race started and finished.
 

“Galway has a great arena, it’s fantastic for the in-port racing, and a good port to get everything together in the one place,” said Mr Frostad.
 

Galway beat off intense completion from other European cities vying to host the finish, including Amsterdam and Stockholm.
 

See full stories in this week’s Connacht Tribune.