VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Tourism in Vancouver gets another boost as the inaugural Americas Masters Games come to town.
The 5,000 athletes are from more than 52 different countries and are over the age of 30, and the province says they will be contributing to the economy while they’re here.
Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour, “This is a remarkable time for sport tourism in BC. The Americas Masters Games is one of a number of major sporting events
attracting visitors from around the world to our province. Last year was a remarkable one for tourism and 2016 is shaping up to be another great year with over 2.3 million visitors in the first six months – a 12% increase over 2015. These increases create year-round jobs, not just in hosting cities but in every region of our province.”
Rob Newman with Sport BC says the history of the city’s hosting helps attract more events.
“Because of hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics and the FIFA Women’s World Cup last year, people are starting to see Vancouver on the world stage,” he explains. “There is certainly an appetite on behalf of the City of Vancouver and now this stakeholder group to attract international events to Vancouver, we definitely have the infrastructure.”
This adds to the already record tourism numbers for Vancouver in 2016.