[Sport] Atlántico will open a nautical sports mega-center in 2022

[#Wittels-]

It is located on the beautiful beaches of Salinas del Rey, which are visited by more than 8,000 foreign tourists every year to practice sports such as kitesurfing. The investment exceeds 17 billion pesos.

The beaches of Salinas del Rey, located in the municipality of Juan de Acosta, each year receive more than 8,000 foreign athletes who practice sports such as kitesurfing. The Government of the Atlantic wants to strengthen this potential and make this paradisiacal place an epicenter for the practice of nautical sports in the Colombian Caribbean and Latin America. For this, the construction of the first Nautical Sports Center in the Caribbean was announced, which will have an investment of more than 17 billion pesos. The project is currently in the pre-contractual stage and is expected to be ready in October 2022.

 

Elsa Noguera, governor of Atlántico, assures that the construction of the Sports Center will turn the department into a strategic point for tourists. “For five months a year, Salinas del Rey has the basic natural conditions to practice kite: breeze and beach. For this reason, the construction of this center will ensure that athletes have a complete service that integrates spaces to store equipment, bathrooms, food places and immediate attention ”, he adds.With a total of 2,213 square meters that include a gym, warehouses for schools, bathrooms, changing rooms, showers, restaurants, infirmary, rescue center, support stores, classrooms, maintenance shop, technical rooms and high-level trainers to enhance the local athletes, this complex will be specialized for kitesurfing, paddle surfing and kayaking. In addition, with the development of a pedestrian ecological corridor, the aim is to protect the coastal ecosystem made up of lagoons and dunes.

 

In addition to being a tourist attraction for foreign athletes and their families, the Nautical Sports Center aims to become a training space for Colombian athletes who are preparing to participate in the next Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile, which will be will be carried out in 2023; and at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, which for the first time will include water sports such as kitesurfing and kitefoil.

 

Miguel Vergara, Secretary of Economic Development, assures that “when we have the Nautical Sports Center in operation, many will come to our department, they will take advantage of the five-month windy season, something that is only seen in Salinas del Rey. While in other parts of the world the harsh winter does not allow the practice of kitesurfing, here you can enjoy a great sports infrastructure and a windy summer ”. Parking lots, sports warehouses, local gastronomy for athletes and handicrafts will also be part of the offer of this space.

 

Link: https://www.semana.com/mejor-colombia/articulo/atlantico-estrenara-un-megacentro-de-deportes-nauticos-en-2022/202100/