Tourism Windsor-Essex is getting a shot in the arm this week with the Memorial Cup.
About 10,000 people went to Red Deer, Alberta over a 10-day-period to attend the Memorial Cup last year and it is believed the same, if not more, are visiting Windsor this week.
Windsor's Sports Tourism Officer Samantha Magalas says people who have never visited Windsor are here this week. "Scouts from the NHL are here, you are going to have fan base that is going to follow this event no matter where it goes, you are going to have the fans, families from out of town teams attending as well as people from the region who will be attending these games."
Canadian Sports Tourism is a $6.5 billion dollar industry and growing according to Magalas, who says Windsor is becoming a Sports Hub. "This is something that is going to add to our sports hosting resume, and we have a very solid resume that is something that is definitely a benefit, when I go out and speak with other organizations about coming to Windsor or thinking about coming to Windsor, I can say we are hosting the Memorial Cup and we just hosted the FINA swimming championship."
During the fourth segment of a 5-part-series Inside the Memorial Cup, AM800 news will examine Sports Tourism and whether it is worth it.
It airs at 7:20am, 12:40pm and 5:50pm.
Click here to listen to part one of the series.
Click here to listen to part two of the series.
Click here to listen to part three of the series.