World X-country to give Shs6b economic boost

KAMPALA.

With less than 100 hours to go, the mood is quickly gearing up for this weekend’s IAAF World Cross-country Championships.

Business at Entebbe Airport has shot up as visiting contingents arrive whereas the Local Organising Committee (LOC) work is getting more tiresome ahead of Sunday’s event at Kololo Independence ground.

An estimated 1000 visitors are expected to be in Kampala for this biennial global event. According to KCCA, the event is set to give an estimated $1.62m (Shs5.8b) boost to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“Kampala will have 900 - 1,000 visitors for about eight or 10 days,” KCCA Deputy Director of Education and Social services Ambrose Atwoko told this paper.

“Research shows that every delegate who comes for a conference spends between $300-400 a day on leisure, accommodation and more,” he said. “The local economy is going to reap.”

Of the visiting crews that include 500 athletes, coaches, athlete managers, IAAF delegates and international media, about 300 are expected to pay their own hotel bills, implying nearly $45,000 (Shs162m) will be spent per night if the cheapest hotel is at rated at $150 (Shs540,000).

Transport within town using city cabs, airtime and internet costs where there is no wifi is another source of income to the local industry.

“For each visitor arriving here, they will receive souvenirs having the map of Kampala indicating the hang-out spots where they can have leisure,” Atwoko stated.

Besides, some guests who have already spent money on touring the country with some reportedly at Murchison Falls National Park and others away in Jinja.

And more money will be spent on arts and crafts by the visitors. “We shall have a crafts’ village at Hotel Africana,” noted LOC Head of Media Norman Katende.

“Visitors will also spend more on Ugandan dishes and drinks here as well as travel. Germany journalist Stephen Kolz visited Jinja yesterday (Monday),” Katende added.

Also, some neighbouring countries like Kenya are set to bring about 500 fans in eight buses to cheer on their team which has dominated cross-country over the past three decades. Each of these will still spend here.

IAAF WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS FORMER HOSTS

Edition Year City Country No. of Countries Athletes

1st 1973 Waregem Belgium 21 286
2nd 1974 Monza Italy 23 269
3rd 1975 Rabat Morocco 26 316
4th 1976 Chepstow United Kingdom 21 306
5th 1977 Düsseldorf West Germany 22 345
6th 1978 Glasgow United Kingdom 27 358
7th 1979 Limerick Ireland 27 383
8th 1980 Paris France 28 381
9th 1981 Madrid Spain 39 460
10th 1982 Rome Italy 33 382
11th 1983 Gateshead United Kingdom 35 431
12th 1984 E. Rutherford USA 40 443
13th 1985 Lisbon Portugal 50 570
14th 1986 Colombier Switzerland 57 670
15th 1987 Warsaw Poland 47 576
16th 1988 Auckland New Zealand 41 441
17th 1989 Stavanger Norway 41 568
18th 1990 Aix-les-Bains France 59 617
19th 1991 Antwerpen Belgium 51 633
20th 1992 Boston United States 53 580
21st 1993 Amorebieta Spain 54 653
22nd 1994 Budapest Hungary 60 760
23rd 1995 Durham United Kingdom 58 619
24th 1996 Stellenbosch South Africa 65 669
25th 1997 Torino Italy 72 725
26th 1998 Marrakech Morocco 66 707
27th 1999 Belfast United Kingdom 66 759
28th 2000 Vilamoura Portugal 76 805
29th 2001 Oostende Belgium 67 790
30th 2002 Dublin Ireland 59 664
31st 2003 Lausanne Switzerland 65 605
32nd 2004 Brussels Belgium 72 673
33rd 2005 Saint-Galmier France 72 695
34th 2006 Fukuoka Japan 59 574
35th 2007 Mombasa Kenya 63 470
36th 2008 Edinburgh United Kingdom 23 448
37th 2009 Amman Jordan 57 459
38th 2010 Bydgoszcz Poland 59 437
39th 2011 Punta Umbría Spain 51 423
40th 2013 Bydgoszcz Poland 41 398
41st 2015 Guiyang China 51 410
42nd 2017 Kampala Uganda
43rd 2019 Aarhus Denmark