LOCAL VOLVO ORGANISERS CALL FOR GOVERNMENT SUPPORT ON FESTIVAL

Date Published: 09-Jul-2012

The President of 'Let's do it global' John Killeen says the Government needs to step up economically if the Volvo Ocean race is to return.

Talks are expected to begin in the coming weeks with interested parties on Galway's bid to host another stopover for the global yacht race.

This year's 9 day festival cost around 10 point 5 million euro, 4 million came from Government, and 6 million was raised locally and in sponsorship.

This investment generated over 100 million euro for the region's economy.

Official spectator figures for the first eight days of the event show there were over 820 thousand visits to events at the festival.

However, it's expected that the full 9 day figure will show over 900 thousand visits were made.