TULSA — Tourism is absolutely vital to the economies of Oklahoma and Tulsa alike, and the 2020 pandemic landed a crippling blow.
So it came as welcome news to Ray Hoyt, President of Tulsa Regional Tourism, when IRONMAN announced it would not only stage an event here in 2021, but that it would be the site of its national championships.
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He said that’s the goal of Tulsa Regional Tourism - to expose people to all Tulsa has to offer, in the hopes that they come back - or possibly, move their homes and businesses here.
“That really kind of puts Tulsa even at a higher level on the world stage when it comes to triathalons and IRONMAN. So we’re excited about it, it’s going to bring a lot of people to Tulsa that probably otherwise wouldn’t have been here.”
TRT has kept working hard throughout the pandemic to sell Tulsa to tourists, Hoyt told KRMG, specifically by focusing on future events.
“Recovery will be faster for us, because... we didn’t stop selling, we just kept pushing along, knowing that when this does end our sales pipeline, our events pipeline, will be ready to go, and won’t be months or years getting that back in place, but literally just turning on the spigot,” Hoyt said.
The 2021 Certified Piedmontese IRONMAN North American Championship is scheduled for May 23, 2021.