CRI听力： Post-Games Use of Olympic Venues

The possibility of an economic slump after the Olympic Games has annoyed almost every hosting country, and one of the core challenges is the huge financial burden brought about by the building of Olympic venues.

As the 2008 Beijing Olympic approaches, people are paying increasing attention to the post-Games operations of various sports facilities in the city. What can Beijing do to avoid the risk brought on by these venues?

Wu Jia explores.

Reporter: As the Olympic Game draws near, along with the excitement brought about by the grand event, more and more attention has been paid to the question----what will happen after the Games?

Experts believe that the economic performance of Olympic venues will impact a lot on the hosting city's post-Olympic economic development; it is also a key factor in the evaluation of the overall performance of a hosting country.

Charlie Song is a professor of the University of West Florida and senior advisor for the Beijing Olympics

"Based on previous experiences, the operating condition of the Olympic venues after the Games is usually seen as a key indicator in determining the overall success of hosting the Olympic Games."

For every Olympic host city, the issue of how one can operate the costly venues and make them profitable after the event, is always a complicated one. Many failed examples have shown that inefficient operation will bring huge financial burdens to the city in the long-term.

What are the challenges for cities running such large sports venues after the Games? Brian Newman, chief executive officer and director of the Sydney Olympic Park Authority, analyses from their experiences. 

"One of the first challenges we addressed is the question of how we deal with the scale and grandness, the monumentalizm of a precinct designed when include large, open spaces required to accommodate massive crowds during the Olympic Games. …Another challenge is the question of how do we activate a precinct on a day-to-day basis."

With the 2008 Beijing Olympics coming near, the city will invest around 28 billion yuan, or over 3 and half billion US dollars, in sports facilities. It has planned to build and renovate a total of 31 competition venues, including 6 large scale gymnasiums.

Finding effective methods to operate these facilities after the Games is believed to be an urgent task for Beijing to explore.

Insiders say it is necessary and practical to follow international practice and make use of overseas resources.

Brian Newman says after the 2000 Games, the Sydney Olympic Park has still remained active.

"Since the Olympic Games, visits to Sydney Olympic park have doubled to over 8mln annually, placing us on track to reach 10 mln by 2010."

Built for the 2000 Olympics, Sydney Olympic Park is a 640-hectare site located in the suburb. It continues to be used for a slew of sporting and cultural events.

The park is in the process of transforming itself into a new town, which gives the precinct a new identity, with a broad economic base.

Newman shares the secret of why the Olympic Park is operated efficiently.

"We have achieved this by developing new products and experiences. In the area of developing new products, we have developed a wide range of tour products, leisure products, education products and business products."

Regarded as the most successful Games in history, the Sydney 2000 Olympic not only achieved a high reputation in terms of the Games delivering. It also set a good example in terms of post-Olympic management.

Newman says that to pursue a sustainable development model for the Olympic precinct, the host city must seek to increase visits to the precinct, to create a strong brand and to secure sustainable economic viability for the park as a whole and for individual venues. 

"What are the keys in successfully managing measures sporting facilities in the post Olympic period? For us, it is flexibility, multi-usable."

Professor Charlie Song says the mission of the Olympics gymnasiums should not end after one week-long event. He notes that proper management will enable the venues to continue their contribution to Beijing's economy in the post-Olympic period. 

"There is huge business potential for the Olympic venues in the post-Games era."

Wang Yingquan, president of a Swiss based sports and entertainment content provider, sees that the major profit generation for gymnasiums may come from a large number of visits.

"Successful operation of a gymnasium is not only dependent on hosting events. The more important factor is making the venue a popular sightseeing spot, which can attract big population flows, and turn it into a place with special cultural elements."

Marcus John is the vice president of IMG, a leading sports, entertainment and media company.

To achieve this, he says gymnasiums must enrich their services, their content and create specific attributes attractive to visitors.
"In the case of having so many venues in Beijing, redefining how you feel about these venues, how they can not jeopardize each other will be very important. It will be very important to organize somehow more strategically who hosts what."

He adds that for Olympic hosting cities, sports facilities should be operated from a marketing and business standpoint.

To avoid an increasing number of white elephant venues burdening the host city, Brian Newman from the Sydney Olympic Park Authority advises sports venues be seen as an integral part of the city's blueprint before and after the Games.

"It has been a philosophy. The hosting of the Olympic Games is not an end in itself but a starting point for a new and exciting journey. From our experience, success in the post game period demands almost as much attention and commitment as the delivery of the Games itself. It must be taken very seriously."

For Biz China, I'm Wu Jia.