Hosting the America’s Cup will create jobs and boost development and investment in key areas, Premier Michael Dunkley told the House of Assembly this morning.

He also highlighted that the event had generated “multi-million dollar” revenues for other host countries.

“The America’s Cup has the opportunity of being a spectacular, milestone event for our Island,” the Premier said.

“It will give us unprecedented international exposure and we also anticipate that the economic benefits from hosting this event would provide a substantial and very welcome boost.

“Other countries that have had the distinct privilege of hosting the America’s Cup have recorded multi-million dollar figures in terms of revenue generated by the event.

“For Bermuda, it would certainly mean an acceleration of development and investment in several industry areas on the Island.

“It would mean an increased demand for transportation, accommodation, retail and hospitality services.

“We would anticipate an investment in upgrades and additional capacity in our hotels and tourism product and this will ultimately result in an increase in jobs in our construction and tourism sectors — all key industries which drive our economy.”

Bermuda is competing with San Diego to host the America’s Cup in 2017. The announcement the Island had made the final two was made on Tuesday.

Mr Dunkley said this morning that winning the host bid would allow the Island to “showcase our hospitality to world”.

He added: “With Bermuda making it to this final stage of the bidding process, the Island will host America’s Cup World Series races no matter the outcome of the final venue selection, which will mean an influx of people to Bermuda’s shores for possible events in 2015 and/or 2016.

“Hosting an event of this magnitude on our shores will require the support and participation from all sectors of our community. The benefit potential for Bermuda is something that we should all be cognisant of and it will require a unified, community effort from everyone.

“Since the announcement, I have followed the discussions in various forums — on talk radio, on social media, in the blogosphere — and I recognise that sailing may not receive the kind of high-profile attention as perhaps football or cricket but, lest we forget, Bermuda has a very rich and treasured maritime and sailing legacy. Furthermore, Bermuda has a sterling reputation among sailors in the international community.

“It is my hope that with the buzz being generated by Bermuda’s potential to be the host of the next America’s Cup, it will perhaps spur some of our young people who wouldn’t otherwise consider getting involved in sailing to discover more about the benefits of the sport and all that it has to offer.”

The Premier also thanked the organising committee for their dedication to securing the America’s Cup for Bermuda.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the tremendous amount of work and effort that has gone on behind the scenes by our Bermuda organising team to advance Bermuda’s chances,” he said.

“In the words of Sir Russell Coutts, director of the America’s Cup Event Authority, Bermuda has presented a compelling case to host the next America’s Cup.

“I want to publicly thank the Minister of Education and Economic Development, Dr Grant Gibbons, and his team of Government technical officers and private-sector partners, especially Peter Durhager, Mike Winfield and Jasmin Smith, for their dedication to this monumental cause.

“Together, they and other members of the team have worked tirelessly to make sure that our bid was first class.

“We are singularly focused on the next phase of the bid process and on generating commercial sponsorship in support of the bid. It is anticipated that a final decision on the venue to host the America’s Cup Finals will be determined before the end of the year.”