Countdown to 2015 World Orienteering Championships in Inverness

31st July 2013

The Highland Council has welcomed today’s formal launch and countdown to the World Orienteering Championships which are to be centred on Inverness during the first week of August 2015. The biennial Scottish Six Day Orienteering event will take place alongside the world championships thereby increasing the number of participants, spectators and support teams in the area at the time.

The launch took place at Boath, Nairnshire, during this year’s Scottish Six Days which are being hosted in Moray. The World Championships are returning to Scotland after a lapse of 16 years and to an area particularly suited to the sport. Both events will generate significant economic benefit to the local economy and it is hoped that there will be some lasting benefit through an increased interest in the sport from schools, youth and community organisations.

The Council is providing a grant of £30,000 towards the cost of organising and staging the World Championships and will assist with event infrastructure and encouragement of arts and cultural activities so that competitors and spectators can enjoy learn about the area’s attractions and traditions during their stay.

Councillor Liz MacDonald, Provost of Nairn, who attended the launch, said she was very pleased that the two Orienteering events would take place in the Highlands in 2015.

She said: “I am delighted that the area is now attracting significant national and international sporting events which confirm our position on the sporting map and give our economy such a boost.. The Orienteering events follow on from the success of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open Championships at Castle Stuart Links, the Mountain Biking Championships in Lochaber and the announcement that the World Sheepdog Trials Championships will take place in Scotland for the first time, in Easter Ross in September 2014.”