Triathlon event helps ‘put Leeds on the map’

The World Triathlon Championship Series was held last weekend in Leeds’s Roundhay Park, and saw Leeds’s own Johnny Brownlee and new champion Alex Yee take part.

Thousands of athletes descended on the city to take part in an event which both local retail experts and Leeds City Council said would be important in getting the word out about Leeds and making it a place people want to come and invest.

Martin Dickson is a senior officer at Leeds BID, which looks after businesses in and around Leeds City Centre. He believes the benefits of events such as this are important for marketing the city as a destination, as well as bringing in the one-off spending of visitors.

He said: “There is the micro potential benefit about did they sell more coffee or see more people, but there is also the macro question of ‘is it putting Leeds in the news?’.

“It is an important place marketing event to have these kinds of things, sports culture, it means your city gets talked about more.

“Businesses reported there were definitely more people in town on the Sunday.”

His thoughts were echoed by Leeds City Council. A spokesperson for whom said: “Leeds has a strong, world-class tradition as a sporting city and we are very proud to be able to host these amazing events.

“Events such as these helps to put Leeds as a city firmly on the map and gives us a fantastic opportunity to show not only the rest of the UK, but the world, just how great we are.”

The council said arranging the event, in a Covid-safe way, was a “huge challenge” for the organisers, adding a “huge thanks” to those who helped make it happen.

The statement added: “Furthermore, because of the impact of the pandemic on our economy, it’s even more important than ever to encourage visitors and tourism back into the city as well as encouraging inward investment by showcasing what Leeds has to offer.

“Events such as the World Triathlon Championship and Para Series are crucial for boosting these needs and we look forward to bringing more world class events to the city in the future.”