RIO OLYMPICS BY BARRY DUNSTALL
IMPRESSIVE STATS So just how big is the self-proclaimed ‘biggest sporting event on the planet’? The statistics are impressive: the Games will host 10,500 athletes from 206 countries, competing in a total of 42 sports at 32 venues. Perhaps most importantly for the travel industry, up to 7.5 million tickets are being issued to spectators from all over the world.
Big numbers then, but encouragingly,
John Grant, senior analyst at OAG, a global aviation intelligence company, is not pre- dicting air travel chaos. Grant says: “There was a 12 per cent increase in international air bookings to Brazil for the FIFA soccer World Cup in 2014 [June 12-July 13] com- pared to the same period in 2013. While we can’t know every passenger’s exact reasons for travelling, the World Cup would have been a factor in that increase. Nonetheless, there is generally no evidence of major sporting events causing significant increas- es in air travel. In fact, anecdotal evidence suggests sporting events can actually cause slight declines. Local people stay home to watch the competition and high hotel prices deter international visitors.” Grant points out, however, that the long-term economic benefits of hosting a major sport- ing event can lead to air travel increases to that destination in the subsequent years. One subject that sadly cannot be ignored
by visitors to Brazil at present is the threat of the Zika virus (see box, p58). Grant says there is no evidence of the virus leading to a decline in air capacity to Brazil yet but adds: “The Brazilian market has changed dramatically in the past two years. The economic optimism of 2013 and 2014 has disappeared and international scheduled flights to Brazil are down year-on-year. Average fares in some markets have fallen by up to 30 per cent compared to the pre- vious year. For many airlines, Brazil is a challenging and worrying market.”
BEING PREPARED Everyone is hoping, nonetheless, to put those worries to one side during the Games. Preparation, as is so often the case, is vital. Alberto Moane of HRG Brazil/Alatur JTB, says: “For a travel
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management company preparing for an event such as the Olympics, key things are to utilise the expertise you have from working on past events, to build a strong team and to establish solid connections with local suppliers. “Our team, for example, in- cludes people who have worked on past IOC and FIFA events. The 2014 World Cup gave us a great deal of experience in matters such as handling tickets, planning ground transportation and managing large-scale hospitality programmes.” The work, therefore, begins long before the Games. Moane continues: “Many of our clients have been travelling to Rio for site inspections since 2014 and we are also in charge of logistics for a number
Up to 7.5 million tickets are being issued to spectators from all over the world
of athletes and team officials who have been attending the test events since July 2015. We have seen a lot of inbound travel prior to the Games.” When the Olympics finally get under- way, HRG will be running hospitality programmes for a number of clients, including sponsors. Every good travel planner knows,
however, that even if business travel- lers are relaxing in Rio, duty-of-care should never be relaxed at all. “Security is always a key element that requires a lot of attention before and during the Olympics,” says Moane. “Our clients all have their own risk management strategies, and crisis communications and response plans.”
Looking ahead to accommodation during the Games, Moane says: “Costs may be viewed as generally higher than ‘normal’, with availability somewhat difficult to predict as many rooms are being held on packages or allocations. As we get closer to the Games, some of these rooms may be released for open sale and then a more ‘normal’ market will develop. But it is always difficult to predict exactly what will happen in the run-up to the Games.”
How the other half will live...
OF COURSE, AN ELITE GROUP OF VISITORS TO THE RIO OLYMPICS will be staying in a unique environment…the Olympic Village itself. Scott Field, communications director of Team GB, the Great Britain and Northern
Ireland Olympic team run by the British Olympic Association (BOA), says: “According to our best estimates, and given that qualification for a number of events is still ongoing [as of March 2016], we will have up to 350 athletes travelling to Rio. “The team members will arrive at different times dependent on their event
programmes. Some athletes will not compete until the final days of the Games and so will not fly out until the Games are underway, whereas other members of the team will need to arrive ahead of the Games to complete their preparations at our camp in Belo Horizonte. “The rooms in the Olympic Village vary, with a range of single and shared
rooms depending on the specific apartment and block. Our research shows the accommodation will be of the high standard appropriate for a modern Olympic Games.” UK-based Travel Places, an agency that regularly works with sports teams, is supporting Team GB for the travel management process.
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