Causeway Coast and Glens Council must 'maximise opportunities' from next year's Open Championship, says councillor

At a Leisure and Development Committee meeting, on Tuesday, May 21, DUP Alderman Aaron Callan proposed contacting council staff to “outline the strategy for maximising the opportunities from the Open returning to the borough in 2025”.

Following a successful hosting of the 148th Open in 2019, Royal Portrush Golf Course will again host the prestigious tournament July 13-20 next year.

“I think we’ve all talked about the importance of this event coming back,” Alderman Callan said. “And as a council obviously Covid had an impact on us but there was a £100 million benefit to the Northern Ireland Economy.

“Hundreds of thousands of people came to the area and it really showcased our area in a fantastic way. But building on that, and with the Open coming back, have we as a council gave any thought to how we can leverage it? In the build-up to it coming back, and thereafter, we need to make sure we leverage it coming back.

“Whenever [Open organisers] the R&A have presented here they’re glowing about the support they’ve got previously, and 2019 was a resounding success for them in terms of box office and merchandise sales.

“We need to make sure to leverage as much as we can for local business and economy, and it would be beneficial to develop an action plan or strategy and translate it into more for our local area. That was something we partially missed out on in 2019 and we didn’t get the longer legacy.”

An officer said the R&A “very much dictate” plans for the Open, so council must “manage expectations on what we can achieve”.

“That said, there are structures to support the maximise opportunities,” they added. “And senior officers sit on working groups specifically around local community and business engagement, tourism and promotion, and sustainability.

“We’re able to feed into those, but it’s about managing expectations and working with the R&A to ensure there are opportunities for local businesses.”