Badminton England has announced a new partnership with Gullivers Sports Travel for the upcoming London Grand Prix, taking place at the Copper Box on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from 1st to 6th October 2013, while plans for a relocation and expansion of the sport’s National Badminton Centre have also been approved.
The event will see some of the world’s best player’s return to London as part of the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) Grand Prix Gold event series and will be the first time a BWF Grand Prix Gold event has been held in England.
The new partnership enables Gullivers to provide accommodation for national and international players and event staff, as well as offer bespoke supporter packages for fans.
Badminton England’s head of major events Nicola Moloney said: ‘The London Grand Prix is a great addition to our major events portfolio, which is designed to not only attract fans from all over the world but to inspire thousands more people to pick up a racket and play.’
‘The partnership with Gullivers Sports Travel will allow us to use their global expertise in accommodating sports fans with unique packages and attract further audiences to experience the most popular racquet sport in England at an iconic Olympic venue.’
Noel Magnay, managing director of Gullivers Sports Travel added: ‘We are very proud to be the Official Travel Supplier of the 2013 London Grand Prix Gold. Badminton is a very popular sport in the UK and after working with Badminton England on the World Championships in 2011 it is great to be working with them once again to raise the profile of this new event.’
‘These new travel packages will be a great way for Badminton fans to get closer to the action at such an iconic Olympic venue, where we will be providing fantastic seats as part of a great sporting event experience.’
Meanwhile, Badminton England has also announced that plans to develop the National Badminton Arena were approved last night by Milton Keynes Council’s Development Control Committee.
The plans to relocate from its existing site in Loughton, Milton Keynes to a new £22 million facility at The National Bowl will create what has been described as one of the best training and community sport facilities in the world.
The move was inspired by the massive demand for badminton courts, the desire to replicate tournament conditions in a training environment for the GB programme and the council’s ambition to position Milton Keynes as an International Sporting City.
The new centre is planned to open in May 2015, just before Great Britain’s elite badminton stars begin their bid to qualify for Rio 2016.
