It is my great pleasure to be with you here this afternoon to officially open the Avon Rí resort. Although only in operation for less than a year, already the resort is making a name for itself. And that is why last September, you were chosen as the designated home to members of the West Midlands PGA during the Ryder Cup.
It is hard to imagine a more idyllic location for a sporting and event resort than sitting on the edge of the beautiful Blessington Lakes. Visitors can enjoy glorious views of the lake and surrounding mountains and glens while the more adventurous can take part in a range of exciting water sport activities including windsurfing, canoeing, kayaking and sailing.
During these activities, an experienced team of supervisors are at hand to teach, co-ordinate and encourage participants at all levels.
Fishing is another very popular activity and I believe the Blessington Lakes offer some of the best trout, perch, pike and roach fishing in the East. For those of you who prefer to stay on dry land, guests can enjoy horse-riding, hill-walking, clay pigeon shooting, archery and tennis.
Avon Rí, surrounded by magnificent natural beauty, is also close to a number of excellent golf courses such as Tulfarris, Rathsallagh, The K Club, Druid’s Glen, City West and Powerscourt. That coupled with its close proximity to Punchestown and the Curragh ensures that visitors always have something to do.
This resort, which derives its name from the nearby King’s River, prides itself on offering a very high standard of service to its customers. For example, one of the unique touches patrons can enjoy at Avon Rí is being escorted to the first tee at Tulfarris across the lake by boat.
Along with the professionally organised and supervised outdoor activities, Avon Rí also boasts 39 lakeside luxury homes. The iL Lago restaurant is another major attraction in Avon Rí headed by a talented and very experienced Italian chef.
Guests can also enjoy your beautiful leisure centre which includes a swimming pool, steam room, jacuzzi and state of the art gymnasium. The conference and function room facilities here allow Avon Rí to compete in the ever-growing business tourism industry.
I would like to congratulate Jimmy, Raymond and George Stanley of the Stanley Mac Cadam Group on their vision and construction of this excellent resort. The Group, which was founded in 1972, initially consisted of the Tar Macadam Division. It later expanded into site development to offer customers a more complete service and in 1986 added construction. Today, the company employs more than 200 people in addition to the 50 full time employees here in Avon Rí.
Research has shown that leisure activities play a very important role in Irish holiday experiences and I am delighted to say that visitors here to Avon Rí will certainly not be disappointed.
Tourism is a very important catalyst in driving the Irish economy accounting for 3.1% of GNP annually. Last year we welcomed 7.4m visitors from overseas and it was our fifth consecutive year of sustained growth. I am glad to say the home holiday market also recorded a further growth of 9% in overall domestic expenditure.
The Government is committed to supporting tourism and have included a Tourism Programme in the National Development Plan that will see a total investment of €800m in the industry over the next seven years. That is, of course, along with other programmes in the NDP that will benefit tourism.
I would like to congratulate everyone involved along the way in this fantastic project. I want to pay particular thanks to Royston Brady for his kind invitation here today and I know you also want to give special mention to Jim Ruttle for all his help.
I wish everyone at the Avon Rí resort the very best of luck and I hope all your patrons have a happy and enjoyable stay here in the beautiful “Garden of Ireland”.
Thank you.
ENDS