Bay bid to host action sports event
Nelson Mandela Bay could host the next Fise World Series – an international cycling, BMX, skateboarding and mountain biking competition.
This is if the city emerges victorious in its bid to host the multidisciplinary action sports event at the Motherwell Peace Park in 2019.
The 2018 event will be held in Chengdu, China, from October 31.
The Festival International des Sports Extremes (Fise) World Series is an annual international tour, featuring some of the world’s best athletes in BMX, skateboarding, mountain biking, freestyle roller and wakeboarding.
At the Chengdu leg of the series, 240,000 spectators are expected to converge, while 300 athletes are expected to participate from 30 countries.
If Nelson Mandela Bay is to host the event, it must triumph in a bidding process which includes a bidding fee of R85,000, a visit to Chengdu, a site visit by a Fise technical team to the Bay, the issuing of a bid award and paying a host fee to the tune of R3.5m, which includes infrastructure cost and set up.
The metro’s chief accountant Unathi Peter confirmed that the budget was available.
In a report presented to the metro’s sports, recreation, arts and culture committee on Friday, sports head Noxolo Nqwazi said they had identified the event as a strategic project to attract sport tourism while stimulating the social and economic levers of the city.
“In light of the recent successful hosting of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship, the municipality commissioned Grant Thornton to conduct an economic impact study.
“The study positively shows that total direct spend of the participants is projected at R34.6m with spectators and other spending an estimated R278.1m to R321.6m.”
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