2018 was a tremendous hosting year for Sport Hosting Vancouver and it marks the second time the organization has been named the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance’s (CSTA) Sport Tourism Organization of the Year. The Sport Hosting Vancouver partnership is proud to be recognized for the successes of 2018. The honour was announced on Wednesday, March 20th during the 13th annual PRESTIGE Awards gala at the CSTA’s annual Sport Events Congress in Ottawa.
Sport Hosting Vancouver played a key role in securing large events including the 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championship, the 2018 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, 2018 Vancouver NCAA Basketball Showcase, and the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship. Working with partners, Sport Hosting Vancouver made events more memorable for athletes with the Tourism Experience Passes and were rewarded with the rugby players voting Vancouver and the HSBC Canada Sevens the #1 stop on the World Rugby Sevens Series Tour. In 2019, it was announced Vancouver would play host for at least four more years to the HSBC Rugby Sevens Series.
Continuing to grow and support events, Sport Hosting Vancouver worked with official travel package operators to develop and sell packages where interest in a specific sport was high, for example the HSBC Canada Sevens in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final to Japanese tour groups. As a result, these events saw record breaking numbers of attendees and sold out venues.
Additionally, Rugby Canada and the HSBC Canada Sevens received recognition at the awards luncheon in two categories – 2018 International Sport Event of the Year and Sport Event Legacy of the Year for the Community Visit Program. Now a fixture on the Vancouver sporting calendar, HSBC Canada Sevens has seen a 25% growth in attendance since it began in 2016. It drew over 77,000 fans to BC Place Stadium, setting the record for Canadian attendance at a rugby event. This celebration of sport and community brings together people from diverse cultural backgrounds, who support their national teams, but cheer just as enthusiastically for others.
About the Sport Hosting Vancouver Partnership
Established in December 2015, Vancouver City Council approved the Sport Hosting Vancouver Action Plan including authorization for the City to partner with Tourism Vancouver, the Vancouver Hotel Destination Association, the University of British Columbia and the B.C. Pavilion Corporation. Known as the Sport Hosting Vancouver (SHV) Partnership, its mandate is to proactively identify a balanced portfolio of sport events that deliver significant economic and social benefits for Vancouver. Since its inception, the SHV partnership has expanded to include the Pacific National Exhibition as a strategic venue partner.
