WEYMOUTH’S Riviera Hotel is the headquarters for both the EFSA European Boat and Line Class Championships and the FIPS-M World Boat Championships, in what is a huge boost for the business.

The hotel, in Bowleaze Cove, will host more than 150 of the participants from countries around the world, as well as providing the catering for every competitor and the setting for the celebrations.

Hotel general manager Carole Rooke is excited to open the doors to angling figures from all over the world.

She said: “We are absolutely delighted to be a part of holding the events. For the hotel it is absolutely fantastic and hopefully it will be for the town. It makes me really proud that we have been chosen to help stage everything.

“All our rooms are booked out for the next two weeks and that is great because we are out of season now. It is going to be great because they are having all the food here, the gala dinners, the meetings and all the celebrations for the winners.”

With the European Boat and Line Class Championships set to get underway today, finishing touches at the Riviera have been put in place, and Rooke also took the time to thank those who have helped with the preparations.

“The organisation for doing this on the world stage has been astronomical and the people who have organised it with us have been superb,” she added.

“I would personally like to thank Neil Bryant and Andy Selby. They are the main people we have dealt with and I would like to thank them for their input because they are the ones who have brought it here.

“We have had regular meetings and gone through everything to make sure it is all correct on their part, and hopefully afterwards they can say that they have had a good experience with us.”

With the chance to show off the Riviera to a worldwide range of clientele, Rooke is also keen that the next two weeks could set the platform for future events at the hotel.

When asked if she believed staging the competitors could aid the company in the long term, the general manager added: “That is the one thing that I am really keeping my fingers crossed for.

“When you think there are people from the likes of South Africa, Italy and Germany among others, we have a lot of people coming here, so it can only be good.”