The Nelson Mandela Bay Metro stands to benefit from a direct spend of up to R300 million should it be granted the right to host the 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championship Triathlon.
This was revealed at a press briefing on Tuesday following a two-day visit to the city by Ironman COO Shane Facteau and World Championship Events vice president Diana Bertsch.
Port Elizabeth is on a shortlist of 3 countries alongside Nice from France and Budapest from Hungary, with the successful host-city to be announced at the end of June.
The event will take place in August/September 2018
The Metro indicated that it would be able to invest between R8 million and R10 million in the event.
Facteau stressed that the quality of a World Championship field dictated that improvements be made to the widening and quality of the road surface on the wild-side of Marine Drive.
That issue aside, he said he and Bertsch were hugely impressed with what Port Elizabeth and surrounds had to offer the 4000 athletes and the thousands more who would travel as family and support crew.
Both Executive Mayor Danny Jordaan and Ironman South Africa MD Keith Bowler said hosting a World Championship would provide Nelson Mandela Bay with a legacy which future generations of triathletes would be able to enjoy.
Caption (left to right) Shane Facteau, Diana Bertsch and Danny Jordaan
