Summary: South Korea has held the national spotlight since the announcement that PyeongChang would be the host of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Although winning the rights to host the Olympics is an honor, there have been questions of the true value to the country after the spending for the games amounted to over 13 billion dollars. South Korea data estimates that the games will bring in around 40 billion dollars worth of spending. This money is mainly generated by tourism during the games, and the attempts of PyeongChang to display their Olympic Park as a winter tourist attraction.
Questions:
1. In your opinon, does the tourism and world focus that the Olympics bring to a country offset the financial expenses the games generate?
2. As Salt Lake City, Utah is in contention to host the 2026 Winter Games, do you believe that the U.S. should attempt to win the rights to the games?
3. Have you been keeping up with the Olympics recently? If so, what events are your favorite?
Article Link: http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/24/news/economy/south-korea-olympics-cost-debt/index.html
3 comments:
I think that if South Korea is truly able to bring in 40 billion dollars from the games, that huge profit plus the international attention makes these games a huge success. That means that the country brought in about 27 billion dollars. I think that the US should consider hosting the 2026 Winter Games. Unlike some of the countries that have recently hosted the Olympics, the US already has a huge amount of sporting infrastructure set up. This will hopefully make the initial costs of the games lower, and the honor of holding the games could be beneficial for the US, especially in our current international atmosphere.
I do not think that the tourism and world focus that the Olympics bring to a country offset the financial expenses that they generate because most of the time the facilities that were built do not end up being used after the games, and tourism barely spikes due to the Olympics. I think that Salt Lake City would be a great place for the Olympics not only because the games would be brought back to the US, but because Salt Lake City hosted the games in 2002, so it would not cost that much to build or renovate facilities. So, Salt Lake City should attempt to win the rights to the games since there would be more of a balance between the financial expenses of the US and tourism brought to Salt Lake City. Also, yes I have been keeping up with the Olympics, probably more than I should. I really enjoy figure skating and the half pipe.
I would be impressed if South Korea made a profit of $27 billion. Compared to the last winter olympics in Sochi, which was the most expensive Olympic in history ($50 billion spent) and only made $53 million in profit, it would be a major change in the Olympic image and would influence the process of making Olympic Games happen. I agree with the point Bela made that tourism and world focus would offset the money made because it is rare for past host cities to make use of their facilities after the event. If you look at Rio, the summer Olympics have already been over for a year and a half, and the infrastructures are already abandoned and crumbling. If you look at Sochi, barely any of their buildings have been used for other sporting events, despite the fact that there have been renovations and reuses for three of the buildings in recent years, one for the upcoming FIFA World Cup. However, the case is different for the US. I don't think that there would be the same negative effects for Salt Lake or any major U.S. city in that case because our country is a very sport-heavy country and cities like Salt Lake City would find a good use for the arenas that they already have or plan on constructing. Also curling all day boy.
Post a Comment