County Tourism Director Ann Marie Maher says it starts with bringing more travel sports teams to the region.
âOur location is perfect because weâre right in the middle of the East Coast,â Maher said. âAccording to the Sports Travel and Events Association, 52% of all sports tourism happens in the southeastern region of the U.S.â
- The high percentage is attributed to the region’s temperate climate.
- Sports tourism is an $11.4 billion industry in the U.S.
â…If we could just get a piece of that, you know what would it mean to Prince William County residents?â Maher asked.
- It would mean more businesses for hotels and restaurants.
- Reduced travel to sporting events for area residents who already travel long distances to compete.
In order to help bring more sports tourism tournaments here, the county has added a full-time position that will focus on ensuring these events are held in the county â events such as the Tough Mudder run that was held in June at Silver Lake Park.
- The Tough Mudder run was not without controversy, but Maher holds that the event was positive for the county.
- The economic impact was $1.4 million for county businesses.
âIt really put us on the map,â said Maher.
It was also a boon to Silver Lake Park. âWe had many residents who came out and said I didn’t even know this park existed,â Maher added.
Travel sports facilities are often nothing more than large open tracts of land converted into fields.
- The ounty has a lot of already existing infrastructure they can utilize for such facilities, as well as plenty of opportunity for economic development because the county is still growing.
- Maher said this doesnât mean they would want to use the Rural Crescent — an area of rural land between Quantico Marine Corps Base and Manassas National Battlefiled.
- The goal is to âcreate new economic development opportunities that preserve open space and preserve the rural area,â said Maher.
âWe have 60 parks. We have one hundred and fifty-five miles of trails- there’s just so much available that’s really under-utilized in a lot of ways.â Maher said.
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