Motor Sports to get new home
By Kern De Freitas
kern.defreitas@trinidadexpress.com More than five years ago, motor sports were evicted from the Wallerfield facility they once called home, in favour of a University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) campus.
But yesterday there was renewed hope that motor racing will once again have a place in east Trinidad.
During the Tourism Development Company (TDC)/Sport Company of T&T (SPORTT) Sport Marketing, Sponsorship and Event Bidding Conference at Hyatt Regency Hotel, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, Minister of Tourism Rupert Griffith said that talks will soon begin.
"Within the next ten days, we will be meeting to discuss the construction of a facility for motor sports in east Trinidad," Griffith disclosed during his address at the opening of the event.
The Minister further stated that for T&T to successfully attract the sporting world, we must have international standard facilities. He said T&T has the capacity to host events, as was shown with the World Karate Championships in 2010, and the Under-17 World Cup in 2001.
Minister of Sport Anil Roberts, who also spoke at the event's opening, said in-fighting has prevented motor sports from getting a home, and urged the racing fraternity to settle their differences.
"We have to put all of that aside, because it has delayed the process, and it will continue to do so," said Roberts.
The Sports Minister pointed out that the construction of three facilities (cycling, tennis and aquatics) is scheduled to start this week, and that the construction of a further nine facilities for various disciplines will begin next month. He said that of 90 recreation grounds to be constructed or repaired, work has started on 40. Work on another 50 will commence by the end of the month.
Roberts added that conferences like the TDC's latest three-day offering, which kicked off yesterday and will conclude tomorrow, are important for sporting organisations to see the bigger picture when hosting events if sport tourism is to flourish in T&T.
"Just as (with) the people who built Tarouba. Anybody come yet? Nobody come; $1.1 billion dollars (invested in the project). That could have been your whole auto sport industry. If you don't understand these things, then we cannot sell ourselves to the world."
Yesterday, the conference featured an interesting and interactive session with stakeholders from several sporting bodies, including golf, rugby, football, rallying and the T&T Paralympic Committee (TTPC).
It was led by experienced UK sports marketing professional Graham Hollings, director of Spine Consulting. He engaged the audience, challenging them to think beyond stereotypes of marketing in an increasingly competitive market.
Branding, strategy and planning, objective setting and promotion principles were just some of the topics covered in the session.
The conference continues today with sponsorship, networking and proposal writing some of the items on the agenda, while tomorrow it will wrap up with a further look at sponsorship, event bidding and post-bid relationships.
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