(Niagara At Large Is pleased to post the following media release from the Binational Economic & Tourism Alliance, a not-for-profit organization representing members of the toursist industry and others across our greater binational Niagara Region.)
The Buffalo Sabres, hosts to the 2011 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship taking place December 26, 2010 to January 5, 2011 in Buffalo NY, have endorsed the Binational Economic & Tourism Alliance (BETA) and Niagara Sport Commission (NSC) as the Southern Ontario leads for the upcoming games.
The BETA and NSC, both members of the Host Organizing Committee for the Championship, will work together with a consortium of Canadian and U.S. partners, to assist with the coordination of Southern Ontario community stakeholder communications, visitor packaging, border-crossing logistics and providing one point of contact to ensure quality delivery, ease of transportation, and customer/fan satisfaction during the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Their responsibilities will include:
1) Communication of event information to stakeholders from Niagara to Toronto.
2) Coordination of accommodation/shopping/shuttle buses for visitors.
3) Coordination of transportation/logistics with U.S. and Canada Customs, Niagara Bridge operators, public and private transportation and parking lot providers and hotels.
4) Coordination of Canadian volunteers for the event.
5) Media sponsorship support for community and visitors.
6) Sponsorship and fundraising through private and public sector resources.
7) Maintaining all event protocols as directed by the Buffalo Sabres and Host Organizing Committee members.
“The Niagara Sport Commission will be involved in the recruiting, scheduling and training of the southern Ontario volunteers to fill the promotional roles leading up to the event on the Canadian side, as well as info booths on the US side during the event” advised Scott McRoberts, Director of the NSC.
“We are pleased and honoured to serve in this coordinating role for the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championship and thank the Buffalo Sabres for bringing an event of this calibre to the region” said Arlene White, BETA Executive Director. “We believe this provides a tremendous economic and tourism opportunity for binational Niagara to showcase our area to North American and international visitors and media who will be here over the 11 days, and we intend to make this a fantastic and memorable experience for everyone involved.”
“The Buffalo Sabres are pleased to be working with the Binational Economic & Tourism Alliance as well as the Niagara Sports Commission,” said Buffalo Sabres Managing Partner Larry Quinn. “We are very excited about the World Junior Championship coming to Buffalo in December and Arlene and Scott’s groups will be a very integral part of the successful staging of this world-class event.”
There will be 31 games played over the 11 days at HSBC Arena, Buffalo and Dwyer Arena at Niagara University. The IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship showcases the talents of the top players under the age of 20 from the top 10 international hockey countries. Last year, the WJC was held in Saskatoon, and generated $50.6 million in expenditures, and in excess of $86 million in total economic activity. Estimates for the 2011 games in this region are in excess of $100 million in economic impact to the binational region.
Over 400,000 tickets will be sold, and accommodations, restaurants, attractions and special events will be sold out to serve the visitors to this community. 65% of these tickets will be from Canadians and International visitors. Over 400 volunteers will be on hand to help with the event.
Almost 10,000 ticket packages have already been sold, and organizers anticipate the event being sold out. For complete tournament schedule details and to book your tickets, go to www.buffaloworldjuniors.com. For real-time updates, event info and the latest news, go to twitter.com/2011WorldJrs.
To get more information about Southern Ontario public meetings, sponsorship and community opportunities, contact Arlene White, BETA at 1-877-884-2736 ext 133 or arlene.white@btapartners.com or Scott McRoberts, NSC at 905-354-5557 or
scott.mcroberts@niagarasportcommission.com.
(Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern in our greater binational Niagara region.)
Niagara At Large 