Barbados has landed another big international sports competition with the awarding of the World 505 Sailing Tournament in 2013.The fantastic news for sports tourism was revealed Tuesday night at the Green Floor Bar in The Ivy by Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy, who was speaking at the awards ceremony for the annual Barbados dominoes clash against a Barbados team from New York.Pointing to the island’s status of becoming one of the top sports tourism destinations in the world, Sealy praised the dominoes players in Barbados who like cricket, polo, car and horse racing as well as sailing, were drawing thousands of visitors to our shores annually. Sealy said that following on the heels of the highly successful Fireball sailing competition held here recently, Barbados had won the bid in Denmark to host the bigger 505. “The Fireball brought over 300 visitors to Barbados and the 505 will be bigger boats with two-member crews with an anticipation of over 100 boats. So you can imagine the visitors that will be travelling here for the series,” Sealy added.Reputation of efficiencyBarbados’ bid was spearheaded by Senator Peter Gilkes who represented Government and the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA), and Peter Marshall, who had established a reputation of efficiency after heading the International One Metre (IOM) boat race which was held in Barbados in 2009.An obviously elated Gilkes spoke to NATIONSPORT a few hours after winning the bid and he was proud to state that Barbados fought and won a bidding war with groups from Port Elizabeth in South Africa and New York Club who wanted the 505 tournament.“The successful staging of the Fireball tournament and the full support from the BTA and Government in dealing with such issues as immigration and customs matter weighed the bid in our favour,” Gilkes saidThe senator also disclosed that Barbados received great support from an English ally in Andrew Dubies who was the secretary of the Fireball Organising Committee and who travelled to Denmark for the Fireball annual general meeting, as well as to convey his impressions of Barbados’ competence to stage an international tournament.Gilkes also added that while the support of government and the organising skills of the local committee were second to none as was underscored during the Fireball series, “Barbados as a highly desired place to visit also sealed the deal.“We were very proactive in executing the Fireball series and with even more time to plan the 505 tournament, Barbados should perform even better,” Gilkes promised. Barbados will also be hosting a Round the Island tournament in January which should provide a test run for the organising committee ahead of the world tournament.
