Toowoomba’s reputation as a sports tourism hub is set to grow substantially this February. The city will host a National Rugby League pre-season trial, a Super Rugby trial, the 2014 Queensland PGA Championship and the Oceania Road Cycling Championships within weeks of each other.
The St George Queensland Reds will start their 2014 Super Rugby campaign with a pre-season match against defending champions the Chiefs on Saturday, February 8 at the Toowoomba Sports Ground.
A week later the PGA Tour of Australasia will return for the 2014 Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship to be played at the City Golf Club on February 13-16.
An NRL trial between the Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland Cowboys – the first top-flight rugby league clash in the city for seven years – will be held on Saturday, February 22.
And Toowoomba will also host the Oceania Road Cycling Championships on February 21-23 with an individual time trial on the Friday and road races on the Saturday and Sunday.
Toowoomba Regional Council’s Tourism and Events portfolio leader Cr Geoff McDonald said the flurry of top-line events would benefit the city on many levels. “There is the joy of seeing these top teams and players up-close and being able to witness top-class sport in our community,” Cr McDonald said. “Sports tourism is becoming a niche market within event tourism development and the potential for growth is considerable.”
Cr McDonald said the various sports would stage a number of spin-off activities in the city in the lead-up to their respective events and that these in turn generated further spin-offs and income for the host venues. “Sports tourists spend on average more than other domestic travellers and Toowoomba is ideally placed to capitalise on this due to its existing infrastructure, proximity to South East Queensland and the quality of events the city has been attracting in recent years.”
Submitted by:
Chris Leslight
Communications officer
Stakeholder Engagement & Communication
Toowoomba Regional Council
