AG 2004 01 26 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mar'ch 2002 Vol. 3, Ho. 3 Small Mal, l{et ting ,rt offers :nic icut The Newspaper for Smaller Cities, Facilities and Planners rear tings ngs :, in the ion-proof. ~ious une to fears lng planners sociation pa indicated dy and in :in 2002. he shalt look · distressed s following odring, : at RCMA's exposition By Vickie Mitchell Small Market Meetings Cricket will come to Piano, Texas, this August in a big wax' when teams from North and South America and the Caribbean converge for the Under-I 5 Americas Championship. A month later, Terre Haute. Ind., will play host to what's being billed as "the largest and most significant hovercraft event in the world." The town of 58,000 will host 1.500 people from 30 nations during 2002 World Hovercraft Championship Week. Small towns like Piano and Terre Haute are pulling, off big wins in the sports market, proving that a city doesn't need a Super Dome to attract world-class sports competiuons. In the last six months, as business and personal travel hal e taken a nosedive, the sports market has stayed stead.~: This reliable track record is causing bureaus to take a closer look at sports events and competitions. JeffToler, tourism and sports marketing manager for the Coastal Fairfield County CVB in Connecticut, has seen the change. "Even.- single year. I attend three or four sports-related shows, and more and more bureaus are attending." Don Schumacher. executive director of the National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC). also sees evidence of smaller cities' growing