New Castle County has awarded $100,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to the Greater Wilmington Tourism Authority to promote the area as a sports tourism destination.
The funding, presented at the agency’s board meeting during National Travel and Tourism Week, will be used to create videos as part of a marketing campaign.
“Sports tourism has grown rapidly in Delaware in recent years, with thousands of people visiting the state for tournaments and other events throughout the year,” said Jessica Welch, director of the Delaware Tourism Authority. We are proud to partner with the department on this campaign and look forward to continuing to promote New Castle County’s many properties as sports tourism destinations.”
William Sullivan, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: This grant, combined with the state’s $12 million Sports Tourism Capital Investment Fund, will help us attract more high-profile events, attract athletes and their families from across the country, and increase our competitiveness. ”
Sports tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry and is an important source of revenue for northern Delaware. Sports tourism in the United States had a total economic impact of $128 billion in 2023, according to the Sports Events and Tourism Association.
“We are pleased to make this investment to promote sports tourism in our county,” said New Castle County Mayor Matt Meyer. “My administration has made significant investments in local parks and playgrounds, and we are poised to host large-scale sports tourism events. If you look at the BMW Championship, we see how our county and region are preparing to host large-scale sports tourism events on a national scale. You can now run multi-day events with
In addition to the $30,000 grant allocated to marketing the video, the office and the Delaware Tourism Authority will also fund the marketing campaign from their own budgets.
Sports tourism ranges from youth sports to professional leagues and includes a variety of sports such as baseball, basketball, cheer, dance, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, pickleball, soccer, softball, volleyball, and track and field. Sports tourists bring additional business to retail stores, hotels, and restaurants.
Northern Delaware facilities that attract sports tourists include Riverfront Chase Center, Chase Fieldhouse, Flory Stadium, Delcastle Recreation Park, Goldie Beacom Athletics, Kirkwood Sports, Midway Softball, Patriot Ice Center, and STATS Sports complex, university, etc. at the Delaware Athletic Complex.
