Thousands of fans are heading to Swansea next month — for a major extreme sports event.

The British Kite Surfing Association launches their championship tour Kiteival 09 in the city, featuring more than 200 competitors.

And organisers say it could be the first of many visits to Swansea.

Kiteival organiser Steve Parrot said: "As soon as we came to Swansea, we knew it would be perfect for Kiteival — it has a great beach area and good facilities in the city centre," he said.

"In fact, we were quite surprised to learn events on this kind of scale had not happened often in Swansea before.

"We would love it to become a regular thing."

Kite surfing, hailed as one of the fastest growing water sports in the world, is conducted on open areas of water with boarders hitting speeds between eight and 50 knots.

For more on this story, read Friday's Evening Post.

THE Post has long championed the cause of tourism and we make no apologies for wanting a return to the days of the Wales Tourist Board when there was a sustained and organised approach to the business.

As a city and country we cannot afford to lag behind other parts of the UK when it comes to attracting holiday-makers. We have too much to lose.

That said, we are rubbing our hands with glee over the announcement that Kiteival 09 will be setting its stall out in Swansea Bay with hundreds of entrants and thousands of supporters gracing our beautiful shores.