A few days after the huge  success of World Padel Tour in Knokke ,  Vincent Laureyssens,  returns with his partners N. Lhoist (Tero / People First / Knokke Out) and Florian and Bernard de Wasseige (Venture Editions) on the organization of this exceptional tournament. The President of the Organizing Committee and CEO of the World Padel Agency, also talks to us about the future with good news on the menu.

The broken records

Can we review the success of the first edition of WPT Knokke?

The exhibition World Padel Tour de Knokke was incredible: in total, more than  16.000 people came  see the show including 1.400 VIP.

This tournament,  This is unheard of . The players told me it was  the best World Padel Tour of their life . This is to say the success of this event.

We were at 450 VIP / day and we could have reached 700 per day if that had been possible. We have broken all records at this level as well.

For the record, we also beat  the world record for selling Estrella Damm beers at a WPT. 

I received congratulatory messages from all over the world following photos and messages from players on their social networks. We could not be more fulfilled. And that motivates to leave!

What is the future of this event?

In 2022, we will renew this tournament-exhibition in Knokke. The 2021 edition has just ended but we are already thinking about next year.

The success is such that the partners,  the sponsors, fight to be part of the second edition . In total, we are talking about 25 potential sponsors. This shows the interest aroused by this competition. And all the ministers present assured us of their support for the future.

We are going to have an incredible tournament in 2022.

The players present will return. And above all, we will welcome other professional players.

Bela wrote to me on Sunday evening at the end of the tournament to tell me that given the incredible success, he would come to Knokke with Sanyo Gutierrez in 2022. This is super good news because Bela is the God of padel and he will mobilize the crowds even more.

An Open WPT Brussels from 2022

When is the Open coming?

In 2022, we want to organize a  Open World Padel Tour in Belgium  again following the cancellation of 2020. It will take place in Brussels.

But at the same time we will continue the adventure in Knokke. The idea is to make a  luxury exhibition every August in Knokke. 

Do you think that this success can be partly attributed to Covid, which has helped to popularise padel even more in Belgium?

Je do not believe. The success of this World Padel Tour is mainly explained by  marketing strategy  establishment. I set up  a unique marketing which has shown its great effectiveness.   

And then we must not forget the exceptional quality of the site (26 tennis courts, 4 padel courts, 1 central court with 3800 seats, 2 bars, a restaurant, a nightclub, etc.) and the general, extremely professional organization with People First and experienced volunteers who have helped us earn our reputation around the world in organizing a WPT.

We just organized  the biggest WPT tournament in Northern and Central Europe  (excluding Sweden) in a country of only 11 million inhabitants, therefore the marketing, the team and the location were the keys to success.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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