Ironman ‘invaluable’ to city economy
Previous hosts of world championship highlight return on investment
HOSTING the Ironman 70.3 World Championship will cost the metro more than R200-million over the next year, but the event will be invaluable to the city’s economy and tourism industry. This is the positive view of previous host cities of the event that will be held in Nelson Mandela Bay in September next year.
It was previously reported that the metro’s host agreement with Ironman required an investment of at least R8-million, with roadworks amounting to a further R200-million as an additional prerequisite.
“If anyone doubts [the benefits of the event], just give them my number,” Dominique Piché, who was race director when the event was held in Mont-Tremblant in Quebec, Canada, in 2014, said.
Piché said the city had decided to bid to be the first non-American host, primarily because of the international visibility it would bring.
“We were not in a position to host if we did not invest strongly in our infrastructure,” he said.
“[This included] swimming, because we have a magnificent lake but it was unsecured and not meant for open swimming – and we needed to adjust our running course [which meant paving] just over 6km of road.”
The city and the province of Québec invested close to C$10-million (about R112-million) in preparing for the event.
“Coming out of the Ironman, the region became a more secure destination for motorists, cyclists and runners. It started to change the DNA of the community, and that was never in the business plan [when we made our bid] in 2010.”
In return, the city earned at least C$7.5-million (nearly R84-million) in tourism revenue alone.
“We surveyed our athletes and we were able to underline that each party of an athlete would generate close to C$3 000 in tourism impact.
“We had just over 2 700 athletes registered and about 2 500 athletes showed up, [which meant revenue of] about C$7.5-million.
“The average stay of the athletes amounted to just over five nights.
“[We were] not just pushing money inside the province from one region to another, but receiving a new influx of economic impact by international visitors, and next year Port Elizabeth will be in the same boat.”
Nicole McNaughton, a spokeswoman for the Sunshine Coast in Australia, said the event had brought a significant economic contribution when the region hosted the championship last year.
“The international exposure of hosting the event here was invaluable, as our beautiful beaches and sunny surrounds were showcased to a global audience in the qualifying stages and during the actual event,” McNaughton said.
“More than 2.4 million minutes of live stream footage of our region was broadcast to a worldwide audience and more than 10 000 images of the Sunshine Coast were shared through social media.
“This showcasing of the region, alongside the positive testimony of event participants and their guests, is a great advertisement for our region and a strong driver for future tourist visitation.”
McNaughton would not divulge how much the region invested to host the event, but said it had generated an estimated A$15-million (R162-million) for the region’s economy.
The most recent host city, Chattanooga in the US state of Tennessee, was still calculating their revenue after this year’s September event.
Tim Morgan, of the municipality’s sports committee, said he believed the projected estimate of US$22-million (R314-million) was conservative.
“Overall, the championship had an amazing economic impact on our region, strengthened how our community works together and gave us the platform to introduce Chattanooga to the world through sport,” Morgan said.
THE debate around the hosting of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nelson Mandela Bay next year will not abate any time soon as there will always be those who argue in favour of the economic and tourism benefits it will bring versus those more concerned about the cost and inconvenience of the exercise.
Yes, R200-million – the figure this city will have to shell out over the next year to meet the infrastructure requirements of hosting the event next September – is a huge sum in anyone’s book.
However, we should look beyond the spin-offs that five-odd days of athletes and supporters from around the globe will undoubtedly bring this city and province.
The Herald spoke to representatives from three former host cities of the Ironman world championship and all agreed that benefits were being realised long after the actual events had passed.
Once the infrastructure was in place, it made their regions – Mont-Tremblant in Canada, Australia’s Sunshine Coast and Chattanooga in the US – far more desirable for future sports-related events.
While the world champs were under way, each city’s value as a tourism and sports destination was also being televised and shared on social media around the globe.
Those who spent time in these destinations thanks to Ironman no doubt also formed impressions that could result in future visits.
At the end it is what we do with the golden opportunity presented by the Ironman world championship that counts.
Our beaches are amazing but we need more offerings unique to this city. It is not enough that we are the gateway to somewhere else probably more exciting and this is where local entrepreneurs can hopefully also step in.
It is all about making Nelson Mandela Bay’s Ironman coup part of a long-term tourism vision that residents can already start to build on and will ultimately benefit everyone, but only if we do it right.