Serious Fun

Elite athletes battle it out at the World Series Triathlon

Bermuda hosts world-class sporting events to boost tourism and the economy

Bermuda may be known for its pink sand beaches and colorful namesake shorts, but the island is also becoming synonymous with exceptional international sporting events.

Chief among them was the 35th America’s Cup, an international sailing regatta that has transformed this midAtlantic nation. “There is no question that Bermuda hosting the America’s Cup had a positive legacy impact on the island,” says Mike Winfield, CEO of America’s Cup Bermuda Limited, the local organisation responsible for the event’s planning and execution. “It also makes people see Bermuda in a new light — as being a fantastic place to do business.”

As teams from around the globe vied to win the oldest trophy in international sport — the silver Auld Mug, dating back to 1851 — Bermuda was afforded worldwide notoriety and was given a significant economic boost. For example, there was an estimated $250 million in on-island spending, plus additional gross revenue of $14 million from taxes and duties from the America’s Cup.

The America’s Cup legacy produced tangible long-term benefits like new super-yacht marinas and hotel projects and softer advantages such as a higher worldwide profile and a positive spotlight on our blue-chip business culture.

The impact on Bermuda’s tourism infrastructure is significant. Existing hotels received massive facelifts, including the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, which completed a $100 million renovation to refurbish all of its guest rooms, built two new restaurants, two harbor front pools, and a new spa and wellness facility, along with a 60-berth luxury marina; The Loren at Pink Beach, a chic new boutique hotel that opened in early 2017; and a new mega-yacht marina at Morgan’s Point was completed in time to host many of the super yachts that visited during the regatta. The event is also credited with giving impetus to the construction of a brand-new $120 million St. Regis hotel in St. George’s.

“Certainly the hotel tourism industry got quite an uplift,” says Penny MacIntyre, executive vice president at Rego Sotheby’s International Realty. “We saw major hotel properties coming out of receivership, and brand-new construction projects as a result of the America’s Cup coming to the island.”

Another ambitious project has been the transformation of the Royal Naval Dockyard on Bermuda’s west end. Once a working boatyard for the British Royal Navy, the dockyard quickly transformed into a bustling America’s Cup village — double duty for the tourism and transportation hub since the dockyard is also where the majority of Bermuda’s cruise ships dock and where dozens of the island’s attractions are based. “What the America’s Cup enabled us to do is to complete and compress our vision for the dockyard,” says Andrew Dias, general manager of WEDCO, the company that oversees Bermuda’s west end. “So

instead of construction taking five years to complete,” he says, “we did it in 16 months, which was definitely an overall benefit to the community.”

More than $10 million has been invested in the historic site, with improvements ranging from waterproofing aging buildings to the development of Cross Island, a massive land reclamation project that created a vast new swath of land to build on and where America’s Cup teams were based throughout the events. This was also home to the America’s Cup fan village and hosted a dizzying array of events, concerts, and corporate entertainment options during the regatta. Opportunities for future development of this nine-acre site are now being considered.

TRIATHLON

Bermuda is now in the midst of a multiyear contract to host the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Triathlon Series races. The first event was held in 2018, and the Island’s role will culminate in hosting the Grand Final in 2021.

The Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) commissioned financial services firm PwC to produce a study on the events, which said the Island’s economy received a $4.7 million boost from the April 2019 event, and it predicted another $9.3 million will come from future tourism.

Kevin Dallas, chief executive of the BTA, says, “For the second year in a row, we cheer the positive economic impact of WTS Bermuda, along with the tremendous legacy value the series continues to deliver. The triathlon brought an immense boost to Bermuda’s profile as a world-class venue to host other major sporting events.”

GOLF

Bermuda was home to the PGA Grand Slam of Golf from 2007 to 2014 and now hosts a regular PGA tour event. The BTA signed a five-year agreement through 2023 as title sponsor of the Bermuda Championship, being held at Port Royal Golf Course.

The Bermuda Championship is a new addition to the PGA TOUR schedule, with a 120-player field and a total purse of $3 million.

Oracle, The United States entry in the 35th America’s Cup

Rory McIlroy tees of at Port Royal Golf Course

Bermuda’s sponsorship at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium for the US Open

Dallas says the BTA set its sights on a PGA TOUR partnership “because of the significant benefit to the island’s economy as well as the worldwide exposure to the tour’s audience that perfectly aligns with Bermuda’s visitor targets.”

In addition to four days of coverage on the Golf Channel, the Bermuda Championship will be broadcast in 226 countries and territories as part of the tour’s international broadcast agreements.

TENNIS

In 2019, Bermuda was also the exclusive tourism sponsor of the US Open Tennis Championships, held each year in New York. But Bermuda’s relationship with tennis goes back more than a century, when in 1874 Bermudian Mary Outerbridge introduced the game to the United States.

Mr. Dallas says, “The brand story of Bermuda introducing the sport of tennis to the United States is just one example of how we punch above our weight as a small island out in the middle of the Atlantic.”

Gordon Smith, CEO and executive director of the USTA, says, “It’s great that Bermuda and US tennis are back together again. Tennis really got started in the United States thanks to Bermuda, and here we have really come full circle. Ms. Outerbridge’s brother played a key role in the foundation of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association, which created the US National Championship – the event that became the US Open. But, for Mary and her brother, who knows if we would even have a USTA or a US Open?”