Preparations are well in-hand for the Women's World Gliding Championships at Lake Keepit in 2020.
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The Federation Aeronautic International event will be hosted by the Lake Keepit Soaring Club from January 4-17, with more than 50 competitors to represent 11 countries.
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Soaring club treasurer Chris Bowman said the club made a bid for the event 12 months ago and were thrilled by their success.
"It's about the sixth bid we've put in for the worlds and we've finally won one," he said.
"We're a bit daunted by workload involved. It goes from being national, which is quite simple, to worlds, and you've got to get flag poles and hold opening and closing ceremonies.
"We're already working hard on the organising this early. We expect initial entries to come in by the first of August."
Two of the club's own members - Jenny Ganderson and Akemi Ichikawa - will compete in the Australian and Japanese teams.
The championships will bring plenty of visitors to the area but competitors and their support teams will stay in the Sport and Recreation Centre or Reflections Holiday Park so they can be close to the action.
Gunnedah Shire Council's tourism supervisor Chris Frend said staff met with competition officers in March and he has written to international ambassadors to invite them to the event.
"We'll be giving support where necessary and providing activities and things for the gliding support and competitors if there's any downtime caused by inclement weather or the way the competition rolls out," Mr Frend said.
"We'll certainly give them all the necessary persuasion to come and see what Gunnedah has to offer."
Mr Frend is hopeful there will be decent rainfall before the event, so the lake fills back up.
"From a scenic perspective, they get a very good view of the district from the pilot seat, and they can certainly appreciate what [poet] Dorothea Mackellar put into verse," he said.
Deputy mayor Rob Hooke said it was an important event for the shire and he was hopeful locals would support it.
"I think it's a real feather in our caps they will have it in our shire," he said.
Runners will be needed for the competition and can contact the Lake Keepit Soaring Club to express interest.
