Complete Agenda Package - Town of Hilton Head Island

HILTON HEAD ISLAND
Mr. Steven M. Sabback | Hanahan, SC
I am writing to ask you to strongly consider hosting an Ironman triathlon on Hilton Head Island.
While I am new to Triathlon (I started training last year) my interest and research in this sport
and in Ironman events in particular have found it to be a rapidly growing sport in popularity and
attendance with substantial economic benefit to host cities, and areas. Ironman has no South
Carolina presence at this time. In my area alone, this resulted in 10 or more of us (in my training
group alone) from the Charleston area, who have signed up for the 2013 Augusta 70.3 Half Ironman
(Augusta, GA) and 16 or more of us from our area have who have also signed up for 2013
Ironman Florida (IMFL - Panama City Beach, FL.)
Last year, in order to contribute to the success of IMFL, 10 of us drove to Panama City Beach
and volunteered for the event. We all signed up the next day for this year's race. The economic
impact to Panama City Beach during the "off season" was phenomenal. This sport is growing
rapidly and more races are needed to fulfill that need. IMFL sold out online in under 16 minutes
last year. This sport has participants who's average household income exceeds $125,000.00 and
who spend a great deal of that income on participating in these events all over the country, if
not the world. Much of that money is spent within the host city on food, lodging, entertainment,
etc. Hilton Head Island is a renowned beach resort which would attract thousands of athletes from
all over the world, and bring additional economic activity to an already viable vacation destination,
while expanding its reach to a new group likely to return for quiet beach getaways in the
future. I greatly appreciate your interest in considering becoming a host for this growing, world
renowned sport.
Mr. Tony Spearing | Columbus, OH
I would like to encourage you to push for this event. As a person who vacations annually in Hilton
Head at our family’s home, I believe this will attract a great group of people to our island. I have
been immersed in ironman events for the last number of years and can atest to the draw they have
and the business revenue they bring in. While the race may attract 1,500 to 2,000 athletes the
impact to the community is 1,500 to 2,000 families. In addition to this, the typical median income
of a triathlete falls right into the demographics of a typical Hilton Head vacationer. In other words
you could turn people who are coming down for the event into repeat visitors. All in all I think
this would be a huge win for the island!
71