National Boxing Championships Packed an Economic Punch

By Keith MacDonald, Executive Director, Cape Breton Partnership

The people of Cape Breton have long been known for being exceptional and welcoming hosts. This renowned hospitality has helped Cape Breton attract visitors from across the world. Cape Breton’s welcoming attitude has also been a key factor in the area’s success in hosting numerous national and international events.

The Celtic Colours International Festival, the Vince Ryan hockey tournament, last year’s Right Some Good festival, the East Coast Music Awards, the Esso Women’s National Hockey Championship, and even high school sporting events including the New Waterford Coal Bowl Classic are known as high calibre events.

This past month, Cape Breton was home to another national event hosted at the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre. After a highly competitive bid, Cape Breton out-boxed the other contenders to win the right to bring the Canadian National (Senior) Elite Boxing Championships to Cape Breton.

From all accounts the event was a great success. The attendees were treated to a well-organized and exciting venue and left with just a brief taste of Cape Breton hospitality that will bring them back for more.

The athletes were treated extremely well and every need was taken care of by staff and volunteers who continue to set the bar when it comes to creating amazing visitor experiences. This outstanding service allowed the athletes to solely focus on their performance in the ring.

Canada’s top boxers were showcased to an appreciative audience. Boxing Canada was so impressed by the positive outcomes that they declared the tournament the best to date. Cape Breton is now on the Canadian boxing map and Boxing Canada has committed to return with more events.

As an added bonus, the region received an economic boost during the slowest period of visitation to Cape Breton. It is estimated that the event brought an economic impact of $2 million during the seven-day event. The 173 athletes, 150-200 coaches, managers, trainers and support staff, plus the many family members that cheered on their favourite boxer filled hotel rooms, rented vehicles, ate in restaurants and bars and spent their money here in Cape Breton.

Cape Breton is now well positioned to aggressively pursue new event and conference business. Our strengths include: 1. A number of modern facilities such as the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion, the aforementioned Membertou and Trade and Convention Centre, the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre and the North Sydney Community Centre that can host a wide variety of activities; 2. A strong volunteer base that steps up to the plate over and over again to lead in the development of event bid packages, provide organizational planning and hands-on implementation; 3. A business community that continuously donates financially through sponsorship and in-kind contributions in order for events to achieve their budget requirements; 4) Enterprise Cape Breton Corp.’s ability to support event bid packages and augment events that have a clearly defined economic impact; and 5. With the addition of the Membertou Hampton Inn and Suites to the Delta Sydney, the Cambridge Suites and the other area hotels, Cape Breton can now target even larger events and conferences.

The combination of these strengths is already adding up to success in the event attraction ring. This summer will see the Canada 55+ Games and the 107th Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference both taking place in Cape Breton.

As the saying goes, “success breeds success,” and I’m positive Cape Breton will continue to attract and host a wide range of special events and conferences in the future.