Dubai: Dubai will continue to stage the European Tour’s season-ending event until 2020 after port operator DP World announced a five-year sponsorship extension of the DP World Tour Championship on Thursday.
The move is said to reinforce Dubai’s position as a major trade, business, tourism and sports destination, said Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, chairman of DP World.
“The DP World Tour Championship is an event of enormous significance for Dubai and the UAE, and reinforces our position on the calendar of international sport and as a centre for tourism and trade,” he said. “The extension of our title sponsorship dovetails with Dubai’s hosting of Expo 2020, an event which will see the world come to the Emirate and further enhance the goal of attracting 20 million tourists per year.
“We are delighted to be again involved as the event offers us a great opportunity to connect with the world, our customers and our partners through one of the most popular sports. We look forward to continuing our association as a global business, and as a barometer of world trade, with a global sport.”
George O’Grady, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “The support DP World has shown The European Tour has been evident right from the start of The Race to Dubai and the strength of their ongoing commitment is further evidenced with today’s announcement.
The DP World Tour Championship will celebrate its seventh staging this year on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 19-22. The top 60 golfers in the Race to Dubai head to the city every November to battle for a share of the $8 million (Dh29 million) prize purse, with the winner taking home $1.3 million.
In addition, the leading 15 players on The Race to Dubai at the end of the tournament will share the $5 million Bonus Pool, with the eventual European Tour Number One pocketing $1.25 million.
Over 55,000 spectators attended the 2014 DP World Tour Championship, a third of whom were international visitors. The global television reach exceeded 450 million people via 40 broadcasters worldwide delivering a cumulative global TV equivalency of $259 million.
In 2013, the DP World Tour Championship delivered a $44 million gross economic benefit to Dubai according to independent market research agency Repucom.
For information and free tickets for this year’s event, register at www.DPWorldTourChampionship.com.
