(Liberec, October 6th, 2022) - After six years, the World Agility Championships will take place in Liberec again. Representatives of the organizing committee took over the organizing flag at the just concluded championship in Austria. For five days, several hundred teams from 55 countries will fight for the world championship next year. The World Agility Championships 2023 will be the biggest sporting
event in the region and the biggest canine event in the Czech Republic since 2017.
For the city of Liberec and the Liberec Region it means a presentation with a global impact and also an economic benefit for the whole region. The championship will be a huge financial injection, especially for tourism in Liberec and the surrounding area. We expect that the event will bring approximately 3,000 foreign visitors who will spend a whole week in the city, and thousands more spectators for short stays, says Pavel Jakubec, executive director of the organizing committee for the production and marketing of the World Agility Championships 2023, adding that with the length of the championships and given the current economic situation, the organizers costs will also rise. The direct costs will be about 30% higher than in 2017, and the total cost of organizing the event will be approximately CZK 10 million. The expected benefit for Liberec and the surrounding area, however, is expected to be around CZK 45 million, the largest part of this amount is accommodation and catering, says Pavel Jakubec. Representatives from 55 countries will fight for the World Championships in the Home Credit Arena in Liberec from 4th-8th October 2023.
The World Championships belong to the Czech Republic, which is confirmed not only by the organizational success of 2017, but also by the performance of the Czech representatives. We are steadily on the podium, Lucie Glejdurová won silver this year. In addition, we have a new generation of experienced agility athletes, for example Erik Řehola is a fresh world junior champion. Expectations in the home environment are therefore high. For our competitors, the Liberec championship will be exceptional in that they will have the biggest support and a cauldron of fans in the stands, says Michaela Bakrlíková, Executive Director of the Organizing Committee of the World Agility Championships 2023.
Although the championship will not take place for another year, preparations are already in full swing. The championship will be one day longer, there will be more height categories to compete in and the number of participants will increase. Naturally, we have to adapt our preparation to this. However, the experience from 2017 is our big advantage. The championship was evaluated very positively and thanks to that we managed to win the organizership again says Michaela Bakrlíková. Given the growing popularity of agility and dog sports in general, they expect organizers also expect significantly more spectators. Accommodation capacities are already filling up at the moment. The teams will stay, for example, at the Wellness Hotel Babylon, which has booked all its accommodation capacity for them and the visitors of the Agility World Championships 2023 for the entire event.
