Thomond Park boost for hotels and shops in Limerick
LIMERICK'S Strand Hotel witnessed its busiest day last Friday – because of the Heineken Cup match at Thomond Park – since it opened over two years ago.
At least seven hotels in Limerick were booked to capacity by noon on Thursday last, in advance of the Munster versus Perpignan match.
Sean Lally, general manager of the Strand hotel, formerly the Hilton, said the match was a fantastic boost to business and the hotel regularly employs an additional 50 staff as a result of the games on in Thomond Park.
"Thomond has been the best thing to happen Limerick City in years and everyone in the region should support it in whatever way they can, whether that is attending matches or encouraging their friends to attend games, as it has a tremendous knock on effect on the local community," said Mr Lally.
An online hotel search for vacant rooms on the night of Friday, December 12, showed the following hotels had not a single vacancy: the Absolute hotel, the South Court hotel, the Clarion hotel, the five-star Savoy hotel, the Strand hotel, Pery's Bestwestern hotel, and the Kilmurry Lodge hotel.
Across the board, Mr Lally said he believed "there wasn't a bed to be had, which is a fantastic complaint in the current climate."
Some hoteliers were also cashing in on the surplus of tourists, with prices for a room varying from €64 to €149.
For the Strand hotel, last weekend proved to be a double whammy in terms of bookings. The hotel had more than 1,000 people booked in for Christmas parties and pre-match drinks before the kick-off at 8pm.
Major sporting events at Thomond Park, such as the All Blacks clash against Munster, are reputed to be worth in the region of €6million to the local economy, and a full house in the stadium can be worth up to €10million.
The 26,000 seater stadium has generated in excess of €70m for the Mid-West region since it re-opened in late 2008.
In a BDO study last year, when Wasps came to play Munster at Thomond Park, the average spend for each visiting supporter was €537.
The study also estimated that the recent Elton John concert generated €9.9 million, with 13 local hotels reporting 100 per cent occupancy.
Upcoming events are Thomond Park include the Munster versus Connacht game on December 26, among a number of Heineken Cup and Magners League games.
Comedian Tommy Tiernan will also be in Thomond Park on January 21 next as part of his 'World Tour of Limerick', and the singer Pink will take to the stage on June 20.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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