City of Kingston outlines areas for improvement in sports tourism industry

The City of Kingston will be looking at ways to beef up their sports tourism industry, based on a new report to council.

In the report, the city is considering enhancing its sports tourism plan, to bolster all athletics and look at new ways to bring more sporting events to Kingston.

“What we wanted to do was understand and have data to understand what it is that we have in terms of facilities,” says Krista LeClair, executive director for Kingston Accommodation Partners.

“What facilities do we currently have in the community that could host sport tourism? What were we lacking? And what was being underutilized?”

One area the report cited for improvement is ice at local arenas.

While there are a number of ice facilities around the city, it appears that the demand is outpacing the supply, and more ice pads would be needed if Kingston wanted to host more events like hockey tournaments.

“I mean, we have teams that are practicing right after school, teams that are practicing at 10 o’clock at night,” says Kingston Minor Hockey convener Jeff Ovens.

“Ice is very limited and is spread pretty thin between all the minor hockey associations.”

Another area the report outlined that could use some work is the aquatics sector.

According to the president of the Kingston Blue Marlins swim club, there is no competition-level pool in the city.

Building a pool that could host swimming events could also provide a boost to the sports tourism industry.

“In our strategic priorities, council asked us to look at a potential aquatic centre,” says City of Kingston CAO Lanie Hurdle.

“Which could not only meet the needs of residents, but could also accommodate some sports tourism.”

Other potential projects in the report also include enhancements at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour and the Leon’s Centre.

But it will be quite some time before any action will be seen on any of these projects, as they will have to go through many levels of approval before any work begins.