'Raise your game' events warning

The FA Cup final, Bryn Terfel, who hosts the Faenol festival and Ryder Cup are among past, present, and future events. Photos: PA/BBC/Getty

The assembly government has admitted it will have to "raise its game" for Wales to become a serious player in the global market for major events.

A special unit could be set up to keep attracting high-profile events such as the FA Cup final and Ryder Cup.

Ministers admit relying on luck to land six FA cup finals and the personal investment of a leading businessman to secure golf's biggest event.

A cabinet paper warns Scotland already has its own events body with a budget.

It does not make it clear whether additional public money will be made available for the Welsh strategy.

Minsters are spending �3.5m a year on the Ryder Cup in Newport between now and 2010 and �2m on the Wales Rally GB.

The report by deputy first minister Ieuan Wyn Jones, states that the total contribution to next year's Ashes Test at the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff is �800,000.

It praises the Beijing Olympics and Ryder Cup in Kentucky over the summer for demonstrating "the powerful and irresistible force" that major events can provide in building "strong and confident nations" and instilling civic and national pride.

But the document warns that other parts of the UK have "well established and well funded organisational infrastructures in place".

EventScotland enjoys a �5m annual budget on top of Scottish Government spending on the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup in 2014.

The costs of staging these two events in Scotland are estimated to be around �350m.

The paper acknowledges that Wales has benefited recently from "a degree of serendipity and 'one-off' factors such as the Wembley Stadium delays and by the individual investment by tycoon Sir Terry Matthews in partnership with the assembly government in delivering a Ryder Cup for Wales".

Cardiff will host the first Ashes test between England and Australia next July

The document argues a "more strategic approach is needed to supporting major events".

This should be "underpinned by a coherent structure capable of maximising the return on out investments through a sustainable programme of events that deliver long term benefits to the people of Wales..."

Under the plan, the major events unit (MEU) would deal with three categories of event:

• Major events - with such scale and appeal that they attract big international audiences and media coverage.

The best examples suggested are an Ashes test and European football championships.

• Signature events - described as "one time or more likely recurring events developed primarily to enhance the image and cultural identity of Wales".

The Faenol festival and Cardiff Singer of the World are given as examples.

• Mega events - requiring a "major bidding effort" and a "high level of government resources at all stages".

The paper says the Ryder Cup and Commonwealth Games are such events.

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