This week is the start of the World Police & Fire Games (1-10 August 2013) set to be held right across Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is only the 3rd European host in the Games history, and the event last took place in New York (2011). The World Police & Fire Games has been hosted a grand total of six times in the U.S.A – firstly in San Jose, California (1985), four times in Canada, twice previously in Europe – Stockholm and Barcelona, as well as in Australia – Melbourne and Adelaide respectively. As a federation the World Police & Fire Games are a non-profit organisation who inspired the formation of the event, which is “open to active and retired law enforcement and fire service personnel worldwide”.
It is anticipated that the Games will comprise of 56 sports events delivered throughout a total of 41 sporting venues. Venues will include the Mary Peters Track, which had recently undergone a major overhaul, in addition to the £38 million Bangor Aurora Aquatics and Leisure Centre, featuring Northern Ireland’s very first 50 metre sized swimming pool, and other sporting complexes such as the Bangor Sportsplex. Originally The Games were expected to reach a target of over 10,000 participating athletes; however the final figure is more likely to be closer to 7,000. The opening ceremony will be held in the Capital city at The King’s Hall – a central exhibition hub with a capacity of just short of 8,000 members.
Tourism and culture has figured prominently in driving a municipal network for attracting and capturing a dynamic international audience to the event. The Northern Ireland Tourist Board have continued to underline the importance of how the likes of tourism providers and visitor attractions can showcase and attempt to leverage the potential gains from additional tourists, which during this period could provide a significant boost to their seasonality strains and visitation to areas of natural beauty. Although statistics in 2012 show that Northern Ireland tourism numbers have remained virtually unchanged, with tourist expenditure rising gradually. The cultural programme for the Games consists of an eclectic and vibrant mix of music, art and history. There will be live music and entertainment from the likes of Faithless, Happy Mondays, The Charlatans and Patrick Kielty at Falls Park. Exhibitions that embrace the history of policing, Irish landscape paintings, observatory and heritage tours. We will see as times goes on the true value of the Games in relation to visitor numbers, generating economic worth, enriching the cultural legacy and whether there continues to be a consistent flow of tourists to integral local and regional hot spots.
Filed under: Sport and Tourism Tagged: Barcelona, Belfast, Canada, culture, Event, Happy Mondays, Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Patrick Kielty, Sports, tourism, World Police & Fire Games
