Buffalo City Metro’s dreams of hosting the 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championships have been dashed after Port Elizabeth was announced as the South African finalist to host the championships.
The news came as a blow for the city as councillors and the East London business community had high hopes of winning the bid to host the multi-million rand championships.
The metro’s acting city manager Nceba Ncunyana in March reported to council the city’s intention to bid for the event, anticipated to bring a R282-million boost to the local economy.
Excited councillors and the Border-Kei Chamber of Commerce gave their full support for the bid.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday, deputy mayor Xola Pakati expressed disappointment.
“We would have really liked to bring this to the people of Buffalo City.”
Pakati blamed the proximity of the hotels and the lack of five-star hospitality facilities as among the reasons for the metro’s unsuccessful bid.
“We have been made aware that we have lost the bid. There were many other cities that we were competing with and we are very disappointed but we knew that it is normal that when bidding, some will win and some will lose.
“Our hotels are far from where the event would have taken place and that was our disadvantage, the setup is different from PE. All the hotels in East London are four-star facilities and that is something that we have to look at with the hospitality sectors,” Pakati said.
DA councillor Jan Smit expressed surprise at the news.
“We are very sorry to have lost the bid, it would have been a major economy boost for our city but there will be other opportunities like these.”
With BCM and other cities out of the running, the “Friendly City”, as PE is known, will now be competing with France’s Nice and Budapest in Hungary to host the event.
In a statement released on Friday, the organisation stated: “Ironman today announced the finalists for the 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championship triathlon.
“Three remarkable cities, all of which currently host Ironman or Ironman 70.3 races, have been named as the finalists in the selection process – Nice , Budapest and Port Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela Bay .
“The 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championship will be a two-day event, like the 2017 edition – with the professional women and age-group women racing on one day and the professional men and age-group men racing on the other.”
Chief executive Andrew Messick said: “We have been extremely pleased with the global rotation of the event and providing our athletes with an exceptional world-class race in fantastic locations.
“Nice, Budapest and Port Elizabeth are all extraordinary hosts to current Ironman and Ironman 70.3 races – providing beautiful and challenging courses and world-class hospitality for our athletes and families. Each city is well suited to host this pinnacle event.”
Port Elizabeth was marketed as: “The beachside community of Port Elizabeth within the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality is South Africa’s second oldest city and is the coastal and economic hub of the Eastern Cape.
“Athletes and spectators who travel to Port Elizabeth get the unique opportunity to visit one of the most widely beautiful and historically significant places in the world.”
About 5000 professional athletes are expected to attend the event. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za
BCM’s Ironman host dream over, but PE in finals
The news came as a blow for the city as councillors and the East London business community had high hopes of winning the bid to host the multi-million rand championships.
The metro’s acting city manager Nceba Ncunyana in March reported to council the city’s intention to bid for the event, anticipated to bring a R282-million boost to the local economy.
Excited councillors and the Border-Kei Chamber of Commerce gave their full support for the bid.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday, deputy mayor Xola Pakati expressed disappointment.
“We would have really liked to bring this to the people of Buffalo City.”
Pakati blamed the proximity of the hotels and the lack of five-star hospitality facilities as among the reasons for the metro’s unsuccessful bid.
“We have been made aware that we have lost the bid. There were many other cities that we were competing with and we are very disappointed but we knew that it is normal that when bidding, some will win and some will lose.
“Our hotels are far from where the event would have taken place and that was our disadvantage, the setup is different from PE. All the hotels in East London are four-star facilities and that is something that we have to look at with the hospitality sectors,” Pakati said.
DA councillor Jan Smit expressed surprise at the news.
“We are very sorry to have lost the bid, it would have been a major economy boost for our city but there will be other opportunities like these.”
With BCM and other cities out of the running, the “Friendly City”, as PE is known, will now be competing with France’s Nice and Budapest in Hungary to host the event.
In a statement released on Friday, the organisation stated: “Ironman today announced the finalists for the 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championship triathlon.
“Three remarkable cities, all of which currently host Ironman or Ironman 70.3 races, have been named as the finalists in the selection process – Nice , Budapest and Port Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela Bay .
“The 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championship will be a two-day event, like the 2017 edition – with the professional women and age-group women racing on one day and the professional men and age-group men racing on the other.”
Chief executive Andrew Messick said: “We have been extremely pleased with the global rotation of the event and providing our athletes with an exceptional world-class race in fantastic locations.
“Nice, Budapest and Port Elizabeth are all extraordinary hosts to current Ironman and Ironman 70.3 races – providing beautiful and challenging courses and world-class hospitality for our athletes and families. Each city is well suited to host this pinnacle event.”
Port Elizabeth was marketed as: “The beachside community of Port Elizabeth within the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality is South Africa’s second oldest city and is the coastal and economic hub of the Eastern Cape.
“Athletes and spectators who travel to Port Elizabeth get the unique opportunity to visit one of the most widely beautiful and historically significant places in the world.”
About 5000 professional athletes are expected to attend the event. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za
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