Sea to Summit scales new peaks

Sea 2 Summit scales new peaks


Surf Summit spin-off also for Westport/Castlebar

Áine Ryan

WESTPORT was all about reaching peaks over the weekend as some 4,000 visitors descended on the tourism haven for the grueling Sea2Summit race while 200 techies caught some waves at a Surf Summit, a spinoff from Dublin’s Web Summit.
Sources said the influx to the town bolstered the local economy by up to €500,000.
Now in its fifth year, the Sea2Summit race provides a bonanza for local businesses during the low-season, according to its organiser, Sinéad Hopkins of the Castlecourt and Plaza Hotel Resort.
The brainchild of Ms Hopkins and Ciara Joyce, her colleague in the marketing department of the Plaza and Castlecourt Hotel Resort, the adventure race attracted 600 participants in its inaugural year of 2010.
“This year 1700 racers registered with 1580 of them turning up in the field. It really provides a brilliant boom during the off-season and keeps all the businesses – the pubs, shops, restaurants, as well as hotels – ticking over. The whole thing about Sea to Summit is that it is a win-win for everyone,” Sinead Hopkins told The Mayo News yesterday.She explained that about 35 to 40 percent of participants were from the county but that the remainder booked into the local accommodation.   

Great local support
Ms Hopkins said its success was dependent on the great local support it received from all the hotels and businesses, as well as An Garda SíochΡna, particularly Sgt Pat Lavelle, Mayo Mountain Rescue, the Covie Wheelers, Westport United, Murrisk Development Association and the local area county council office.
There were 110 volunteers helping at this year’s race and only two casualties, neither of whom was seriously injured, she confirmed.
“The race is a complex logistical undertaking with road closures necessary for health and safety reasons. The whole community is very supportive and while we are trying to generate business for the town, we also endeavour not to discommode people,” she continued.
The Sea to Summit adventure race has two levels, the more challenging one includes a race to the summit of Croagh Patrick and a cycle to the Sheefry mountains. 
 
Surf Summit   
A SPINOFF from the Web Summit, held in Dublin’s RDS last week, the Surf Summit, which was hosted by Mayo County Council’s Enterprise Office, attracted entrepreneurs from all over the world.
Attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who was the central focus of dozens of selfies by delegates, there was a series of lectures as well as a host of leisure activities, such as surfing, zorbing and zip-lining, for delegates.
Local companies, Adventure Islands, Adventure West and Pure Magic worked alongside the towns hoteliers to ensure the delegates had both a stimulating and relaxing experience in the town.
Pro-surfers, Andrew Cotton and Anastasia Ashely, were among the guest-speakers in Hotel Westport.  
Ms Jenni Alasuutari of Helsinki-based sports activity booking firm, Bookndo, confirmed she came to the Surf Summit to network with other sportspeople and to make some contacts.
 “We are planning to launch early next year and want to pilot our business here. I met David Minton of Mayo County Council and think Mayo would be a good place to start it,” she said.
Chief Executive of Mayo County Council, Peter Hynes said that since Mayo was ‘the heartbeat of the Wild Atlantic Way in tourism’, it also hoped ‘to capitalise on the county’s success in being the best place for adventurers to go wild’.
Other Web Summit delegates, involved with drones and big data technologies, attended a conference in Castlebar.