More than 400 volunteers signed up at the launch of the Get on Board volunteer recruitment campaign to help out with the Volvo Ocean Race Festival in Galway running from June 30 to July 8 and set to attract a whopping 700,000 visitors according to organisers.
As official education and recruitment partners, NUI Galway and CPL respectively will manage the 1200 volunteer ambassadors needed for Ireland's largest sporting event which will be followed by 3 billion worldwide.
The eight-day festival to celebrate the arrival of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet across the finish line will include a business showcase called Global Village.
Global Village is a business Expo initiative that will showcase the best of Irish industry under the categories of Innovation, Food, Green and the Marine to an international audience.
In 2009 the Volvo Ocean Race included a Galway stopover which attracted more than 650,000 visitors and generated €65million to the local economy.
That stopover party was managed by a team of 800 volunteers. This year the 1200 volunteer ambassadors will manage the Race Finale and an enlarged programme of cultural, arts, sport, business and entertainment events during the eight-day festival.
