The Kennedy International North West 200 is celebrating winning 'Event of the Year' at this year's Northern Ireland Tourism Awards in association with bmi. A delighted Clerk of Course Mervyn Whyte MBE said, "Over 150,000 spectators attend the races with approximately 60% coming from outside Northern Ireland and this award is a fitting tribute to all our 850 volunteers who work so hard to make the event highly professional. I would also like to thank our key partners, Kennedy Group, Coleraine Borough Council and BBC Sport NI who have helped raise the profile of the event globally."
This year's NW200 attracted 250,000 visitors throughout Race Week and the official website www.northwest200.org together with BBC's dedicated NW200 website www.bbc.co.uk/nw200 attracted almost 4.2 million visitors during Race Week. On Race Day itself the BBC received emails from fans watching the web live from as far afield as oil rigs in the Caspian Sea to Venezuela, Tokyo, Moscow and Australia's Gold Coast.
Congratulating Coleraine & District Motor Club, Alistair Kennedy from title sponsors Kennedy Group said, "It's a fantastic accolade for the NW200 which year on year just gets bigger and better. I know how hard the organisers work 12 months a year to ensure spectators and sponsors enjoy an excellent event and this award helps recognise the huge importance of the NW200 to our tourism industry and also the Northern Ireland economy."
On behalf of the Coleraine & District Motor Club, Hazel Whyte and Alistair Kennedy collected the NITB trophy at a special gala ceremony in the Culloden Hotel. 2008 marked the 30th anniversary of the prestigious awards which this year attracted more than 100 entries.
Other awards presented to the North West 200 in recent years include the Freedom of Coleraine in 2003, a CIPR Gold Award for public relations in 2004, a NI Travel & Tourism Award in 2005, a Belfast Telegraph Sports Award for Mervyn Whyte in 2006 and in 2007 Mervyn was awarded an MBE for services to motorsport.
Related Link:www.nw200ducati.com
