Sarasota Bids On The World Rowing Championship For 2017

After years of hard work towards Sarasota playing host to the World Rowing Championship, and much investment in that goal, there's now a plan in place for Sarasota County Tourism Development Council to make that dream become a reality. The event itself would take place over 10-days and could potentially draw over 40,000 people to the region, which would be a massive boon for local businesses of all kinds. The fact that it could draw such a huge number of tourists to the area would also make it the largest tourism draw in southwestern Florida period.

The actual bid itself takes place during the 2013 World Rowing Championships which are being held in Korea this year and there's also the small matter of a $26,000 bid fee, so obviously this isn't something which has been undertaken without a lot of planning in place. Competition for hosting this particular championship is usually quite fierce but the organizing committee feels quite confident about their effort.

In terms of the financial windfall to the city the fact that 42,000 visitors would almost double the population of Sarasota overnight gives you some insight into what this would be worth to the city itself. The actual dollar value of what a winning bid for the rowing championship would mean is somewhere between $13 million and $25 million in out-of-state money being injected directly into the city.

There are costs involved of course and it's expected that around $6 million would be required to host the event properly and there's an additional $90,000+ being spent in Sarasota in 2013 alone in preparation for it. This is just another step in a plan which has taken almost 4 years to formulate and put into place and an unknown numbers of hours of work and research.

A winning bid for the World Rowing Championship of 2017 would be a major feather in the cap of the city of Sarasota and could lead to a repeat hosting in several years time. Fingers crossed!

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