Sport Tourism Remains Strong in Charlottetown

 

Charlottetown, PE, March 5, 2019 – 2019 is set to be another banner year for sport tourism in Charlottetown. Over the course of the next two months, the Capital City will host a number of major events including the U SPORTS Women’s Hockey National Championship, Canadian Stick Curling Championships, National Dodgeball Championships, Major Midget Atlantic Hockey Championship, Canadian Ringette Championships, and the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League National Championship.

“The City of Charlottetown’s sport tourism initiative, SCORE, is constantly in the marketplace prospecting and bidding on valuable properties,” said Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown. “The economic and tourism benefits of our efforts are not immediate; it takes many months, and, at times, years of identifying events that are a good fit for our destination and then working to secure the hosting rights for those events. SCORE is recognized nationally as a success story, having won several national awards through the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance with the most recent being Sport Tourism Organization of the Year.”

Charlottetown is currently recognized by the Global Sports Impact Canada Index as the top sport tourism hosting destination in the country for populations less than 50,000, and it’s no surprise why. As 2019 moves forward, other high profile events will follow those being held this spring, namely the U16 Eastern Canadian Football Championships, U17 Cup Canada Soccer Toyota National Championships, and the ACAA Soccer Championships, in addition to numerous local annual events, such as the PEI Marathon, Spud AAA Minor Hockey Tournament, Winsloe Charlottetown Royals FC Soccer Tournament, and Red Rock Classic Basketball Tournament – to name a few.

Sport tourism remains the fastest growing segment of the Canadian tourism industry, worth $6.8 billion dollars annually (Statistics Canada, 2016). Sport tourism benefits in the Charlottetown area average $45 million of the province’s $68 million annual economic impact.

“SCORE continues to identify and secure business and is now working as far out as 2023,” said Councillor Kevin Ramsay, Chair of the City’s Economic Development, Tourism and Event Management Committee. “Stay tuned for a number of good news sport tourism announcements moving forward.”

The SCORE team is currently preparing to attend the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance Sport Events Congress in Ottawa, March 19-21, the largest annual gathering of sport tourism professionals and events right holders in the country. The Congress is the perfect platform to pitch Charlottetown as a premiere hosting destination.

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Media Contact:

Jennifer Gavin
Communications Officer
City of Charlottetown
902.629.4102 | jgavin@charlottetown.ca

Background: 
Since 2004, the City of Charlottetown has placed a priority on sport event attraction, aggressively pursuing the marketplace and seeing steady returns. The City launched its SCORE (Sport Charlottetown – Opportunities, Resources, and Expertise) initiative in 2005 to expand the lucrative sport tourism industry within the destination with much success, having been recognized nationally through Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance PRESTIGE Awards on five occasions for its outstanding efforts.