According to an article in Inside The Games, a total of 44 tournaments are due to take place on the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Beach World Tour for the 2017-2018 season, it has been announced.
This schedule, which marks a twofold increase on the 22 events held last year, was confirmed following a World Tour Council meeting held at the FIVB headquarters here.
It is supposedly "increasing opportunities for fans around the world to experience first class beach volleyball".
Three confirmed top-tier five-star events have been unveiled.
These will take place in Fort Lauderdale in United States from February 27 until March 4, Gstaad in Switzerland from July 10 to 15 and in Vienna, Austria from July 31 until August 5.
An unconfirmed five-star event could take place in Croatia at the end of May.
A host has not yet been announced for the World Tour Finals scheduled for August 14 to 19.
"We want beach volleyball to be a profitable business for both National Federations and organisers to grow the sport," said FIVB President Ary S. Graça.
"This meeting was an important event to discuss how to achieve this goal going towards Tokyo 2020."
Qualification pools will also take place in all events in a bid to increase participation opportunities.
Total prize money will be "in excess" of $7 million (£5.3 million/€6 million).
"The new star system with five different categories of events launched in 2016 is proving to be an excellent idea," added FIVB new events business director Angelo Squeo.
"A very large number of countries can now seize the opportunity to stage a World Tour event at the level they wish.
"This is the way to go.
"In the years to come, I foresee a constant growth in the number of events and prize money as well as in the staging of events at iconic locations.
"This will definitely add more attractiveness to the sport."
The 2018-2019 calendar is due to be unveiled in July 2018.
The full calendar can be accessed here
Read the full article, plus related content, here.
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