More than 1,000 athletes will arrive from around New Zealand together with more than 400 coaches and managers, and supporters.

Special Olympics CEO Kathy Gibson and Event manager Sue Kysow put preparations in place months ago to ensure that travel arrangements go smoothly this week.

The award was presented by Roy Bodell of Palmerston North International Airport during the ceremony at which 10 Bachelor of Aviation air transport pilots received their wings.

Palmerston North City Council economic policy advisor Peter Crawford says this is the strongest monthly increase since October 2008.

The data from Statistics New Zealand and APR Consultants shows that visitor nights in commercial accommodation in September increased by 12.6% over September 2008 while visitor nights in private accommodation in the region increased by 4.6%.

Mr Crawford says that the visitor numbers in September were boosted by a very active national secondary school sports tournament programme in the region from late August to early October. Major events included hockey, football, basketball, and cycling.

The Te Kahui Tupua (Sacred Peaks) Alignment Team have received useful input from the operator community and are now developing a detailed plan outlining the 'best option' for advancing the next step in the brand.

Statistics New Zealand's recent population estimates put Palmerston North growth slightly ahead of the national growth.

Employment in the city is estimated to have declined 0.3% over the last twelve months while the national decline was 2.7%.

The company was formed on 21 December 1989 by the Palmerston North City Council and the Government.

Just over a month later on 30 January 1990 the company purchased Palmerston North Airport for $5.1m.

Over the subsequent 20 years the company has grown the infrastructure significantly to match growth in the business.

Passenger numbers through the airport have grown from 280,000 per year in 1990 to 430,000 in the last year. Total passenger numbers peaked at over 550,000 per year in 2006 inclusive of international activity.

The facilities today are international-capable with a 1,900 metre runway and apron space for aircraft more than doubled over the 20 years.

Signficant courier freight operations are now centred on the airport, most major rental car companies for the region are based at the airport, shuttle services have been introduced, commercial flight training has flourished including the establishment of the Massey University School of Aviation, and a number of new businesses are now located at the airport.

Most importantly the old house that was the terminal bulding in 1990 was replaced in 1992 with the first stage of a major terminal development and new entrance roads to the airport have been constructed. The airport company is an active participant in the visitor industry and the regional economy.

Today the airport assets are estimated at just over $40m in value and turnover has increased from $1.6m per year to over $4m per year despite the loss of international services at the present time.

The company has declared tax paid profits of over $10.3m over that period and has paid out fully franked dividends of over $3.7m to the shareholders. In addition the company has been able to provide tax benefits of over $3/4m to the Palmerston North City Council to offset tax losses of the Council elsewhere.