Excitement continues to mount about the upcoming Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event at the North Battleford Civic Centre.
Curling fans continue to snap up tickets at a fast clip to see the big name curlers who will be competing at the Meridian Canadian Open in January. As well, local businesses are seeing an opportunity to showcase the Battlefords both to visitors as well as those watching the event on TV.
Tuesday night, Battlefords Chamber of Commerce director Bill Volk, who sits on the Destination Battlefords board, gave an update to fellow Chamber directors on the status of sales for the Pinty’s event, happening Jan. 3 to 8.
As of Tuesday morning there were 608 full event passes sold and 239 weekend passes sold, out of a possible 1,225 seats, said Volk.
Moreover, he had interesting statistics to share about the composition of the ticket buyers.
About 40 per cent were local purchasers. The other 60 per cent are from out of town. Moreover, Volk reported that a good number of those visitors were likely to stay the night, and that would be good news for local businesses.
“This Pinty’s is going to bring a lot of people to town,” said Volk.
Moreover, plans are in the works to promote the community on TV during the event.
Volk reported Destination Battlefords is producing a destination marketing commercial that will air during the national broadcast on Sportsnet. This will be a chance for the Battlefords to be promoted to a national audience, Volk said.
In addition to the Pinty’s Grand Slam, Destination Battlefords has run a number of radio ads in conjunction with several local businesses on Saskatoon radio, and there are plans to use the “Everything Under the Sun” jingle in radio ads as well.
In other news from the meeting, the upcoming election for Chamber directors promises to be competitive. The election is taking place in December and nominations for candidates have been piling up.
Executive Director Linda Machniak reported that there are 16 nominations for the 12 two-year positions and one one-year position available on the board.
Chamber director Bill Volk reports to the Battlefords Chamber board on what Destination Battlefords’ plans are for the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event in January. A new destination marketing ad is to be unveiled for TV during that event. Photo by John Cairns
