Kiel Week is the largest annual sailing event in the world with more than three million visitors attending.

The festival plays host to around 2,000 events in areas of culture, sailing, entertainment, science, politics, industry and sport.

The announcement as the host venue falls less than a month after World Sailing released the Para World Sailing Strategic Plan for 2017-2020.

Outlined in the plan are four main priorities and tactics to achieve the goals, ensuring World Sailing presents a strong bid to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for re-introduction into the 2024 Paralympic Games and future editions.

The first is to increase worldwide participation to 40 nations on four continents by the end of 2020 and the second is to expand competition, female and youth participation.

Effective marketing and communications to increase engagement with Para World Sailors and sailing fans is another key point while the fourth area concerns ensuring that there is a sound governance framework in the discipline.

The disciplines proposed by the Para World Sailing Committee for inclusion in the 2017 Championships include an open Norlin 2.4 OD event, men's and women's Hansa 303 competitions as well as a mixed Weta division.

An open, two person SKUD 18 championship has also been proposed alongside a three person Sonar competition.

Meanwhile, other formats may also be tested in the Weta and Hansa 303 categories.

Next year's championships will be an integral part of World Sailing's continued efforts for reinstatement and the governing body has committed £90,000 ($114,000/€107,000) to support sailor participation at the event.

"The 2017 Para World Sailing Championships is a pivotal event for World Sailing to demonstrate to the International Paralympic Committee the strides we have taken to develop and enhance Para World Sailing," said Kim Andersen, the President of World Sailing.

"Positive steps have been taken since the sport was removed from the 2020 Paralympic Sports Programme and we continue to work closely with the athletes, our members, classes and the media to push for reinstatement in 2024 and continuity beyond.

"Kiel have a long running history of delivering exceptional sailing events and through our combined efforts and with the support of our partners we aim to deliver record attendance at a Para World Sailing event.”

This year's championships were held in Medemblik in The Netherlands tomorrow and acted as the last major opportunity for sailors to prepare for the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

"All four bids received for the 2017 Para World Sailing Championships were excellent and this highlighted the significance and importance of the event," added Massimo Dighe, Para World Sailing manager.

"The decision of the Para World Sailing Committee to select Kiel as host venue for 2017 is a great occasion for the sport, being a part of a big event like Kieler-Woche, that every year grabs the interest of sailors and attention of the media around the world is really important.

"World Sailing will start to work with the organisers immediately to ensure that the event is a success and showcases the progression of Para World Sailing.”