P.E.I. hosts international games committee

P.E.I. sports officials spent the weekend showing off the Island to International Island Games committee members in a bid to host the games in 2013.

'You're used to dealing with huge numbers of visitors.' Jorgen Petterson, Island Games chair

Prince Edward Island is facing off against Bermuda in its bid to host the event.

The Games feature small islands from around the world but have never been held on this side of the Atlantic.

Two members of the international executive toured sports venues and accommodations across P.E.I.

They will also be visiting Bermuda, which lost the bid to host the Games in 2011 and is trying again.

Association chair Jorgen Pettersson, visiting from his home in Aland, an archipelago in the Baltic Sea and an autonomous province of Finland, said P.E.I. is not as well-known within the Island Games membership as Bermuda, but may have the edge in other areas.

"Accommodation and transportation.You're a tourist resort. You're used to dealing with huge numbers of visitors," said Pettersson.

"You have your sports venues, which are there. They are in shape," he said, noting the Island doesn't need manycapital investments.

P.E.I. and Bermuda have until December to finalize their bid packages. They will then try to win the votes of the 25 member islands. That vote will be held in June 2008.

The Island Games are held every two years. The last games on the Greek island of Rhodes featured more than 3,000 athletes.