Sports tourism heats up in Windsor-Essex

Windsor firefighter Jack Bailey is excited the city will be hosting Firefit later this year.

“We'll be having one to 200 firefighter athletes come to town,” he said.

Those athletes will be here the weekend of Sept. 8, “and they will naturally need to eat and have a place to stay.”

So will others as sports tourism heats up in the region.

Officials at Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island (TWEPI) estimate over 5 million people visit the region on an annual basis and 18,000 hotel rooms were booked because of sports tourism in 2022.

“In my 20 years in hotels this has been by far one of the busiest times I've ever experienced and a lot of it is to do with sports tourism,” said Brian Yeomans, regional director of sales for three local hotels including Double Tree.

The hotel is one of many that have spent millions of dollars in recent year to upgrade inventory in our region.

“We're very lucky to have the hotel infrastructure we do in this community and on top of that our municipal partners have all invested big money in sports facilities,” said Gordon Orr, CEO of TWEPI.

With many more events on the way later this year, the timing was right for the re-introduction TWEPI’s sports tourism meet and greet.

“It was really about making contacts, networks and then helping them find their way when they wanna host their tournament,” Orr said.

Don Caswell, president of the Windsor Lawn Bowling Club, learned a lot from the event.

“That weekend we're hosting the Provincial Fours I understand OFSAA soccer is here and there's a soccer tournament so hotel rooms will be at a premium,” said Caswell who has warned out-of-town bowlers.

The lawn bowling club is hosting their tournament in early June, so Caswell was happy to expand his list after meeting other hotel operators.

“I've been in touch a couple already as we work towards our provincial championships,” he said.

There are many more events on tap ranging from track and field to soccer, swimming, baseball and more.

“We wanted to make sure they knew the services we provide,” Orr said. “We want to know when they're bringing their events and so we can develop that calendar, that roster of events that's coming to the region.”