The Tribune

SPEED WEEK GALLERY HERE

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

THE second annual Speed Week Revival is set to officially kick off tomorrow and officials hope to see hundreds flock to the event from abroad, contributing thousands of nightly bookings to the country’s hotels.

Upwards of $1.5 million was spent on the event, Speed Week president Jimmy Lowe said yesterday. The event promises to be “bigger and better” than last year with a longer racing circuit and the added addition of go-kart racing.

The government also contributed to the event by repaving and widening the circuit to accommodate the cars and both Speed Week and the government expect to see returns in the form of a boost to the country’s tourism industry.

Director of Sports Tourism Development, Tyrone Sawyer described Speed Week as an “extremely important” contribution to tourism.

“It is what we call a hybrid event,” he said. “Hybrid from the point of view that it generates branding and awareness through the publicity it generates.”

Mr Sawyer explained the publicity the event generates in “core tourism markets,” such as the United States and the United Kingdom, could help draw visitors and “millions” of dollars to the country.

He continued: “It also brings the element of people visiting to attend – and when they visit to attend, that’s a direct benefit that translates into incremental visitor arrivals to our destination and also incremental room nights for the number of nights they stay in the hotel. We are very pleased with this event and we see it having a great impact on our tourism.”

Mr Lowe had similar sentiments and said the Ministry of Tourism and the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board have been helping to attract visitors to Speed Week.

“The whole thrust behind this event is that it is indeed a tourism event. Obviously if we could get 2,000 or 3,000 room nights in the month of December it will be well worth it,” he said.

“Our on-line tickets sales – more than 60 almost 70 per cent come from abroad... I think at the end of this event, our target is somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 room nights and if we can make that happen, I think we’ve accomplished something.”

This year, the event sees changes and “improvements” by comparison to last year.

“We had a car show and a go-kart demonstration at Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre – that was one of our biggest changes. They (go-karts) will be running in our parade lap on Wednesday when we open,” Mr Lowe said.

“The other change that we have this year is the circuit is going to be longer than it was last year as we’re using the western bridge of Arawak Cay that the government and the Ministry of Works so kindly went ahead and refurbished for us and then we’re going in front of the new port and across the eastern bridge. The total length of the circuit will be more like 1.6 miles rather than the 1.1 miles we had last year.”

In a press statement, Mr Lowe also said: “The most important change we are making is to ensure that the general public is fully aware that this is a Bahamian event on Bahamian territory at Arawak Cay, providing Bahamian jobs, opportunities and great family recreation and entertainment. We plan to make this one of the most popular activities for locals to enjoy.”

Tickets start at $30 for one-day bleacher seating, $75 for the race-car paddock, and $275 for VIP club. Mr Lowe added there also will be “a lot” of free viewing areas.