Phl hosts World’s strongest man tilt

Thirty of the world’s strongest, toughest are expected to lead the elite cast in the World’s strongest man competition which the country will host in three major cities in May.

In a press conference yesterday, Department of Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo announced the country’s hosting of the international strongman competition to be divided into three major events, particularly for the pre-qualifier rounds. There are the airplane pull, truck pull and car lifting.

Davao will host the airplane pull event, while Iloilo and Laoag will stage the truck pull and car lifting, respectively.

The event is also expected to boost the country’s tourism by way of promoting it to the international television market, according to Tourism undersecretary Katherine de Castro.

“We are expecting to reach 470,000 households in 70 countries,” said De Castro.

The pre-qualifier rounds are slated from April 28 to May 5, while the finals will be on May 5 to 6. The DOT has not disclosed a specific location for the finals.

“We are expecting around 30 athletes to join the competition,” De Castro added.

The country’s hosting of the World’s strongest man is in line with the DOT’s push for sports tourism and as well as international events.

The DOT earlier identified sports tourism as a potential driver of growth of foreign arrivals this year.

Teo earlier said the DOT is to focus on sports tourism this year, as it is one of the main priority products of the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP).