Durban Olympics 2020 - Durban Looks Likely to Bid For the 2020 Summer Olympic Games

Durban in South Africa has just shown the world that it is capable of hosting a major world sports event, by its exceptional hosting of the football World Cup. Fans were welcomed into this great city by the sea and basked in the fantastic winter sunshine and temperatures averaging 25 degrees Celsius, making sipping cocktails on the beach in bright sunshine in the middle of winter a reality!

With the fantastic infrastructure of new stadia already in place, the centrepiece of which is Moses Mabhida Stadium with its distinctive and impressive arch, Durban would be the perfect choice for the Olympics of 2020. There is an abundance of fantastic Durban hotels on the beach and along the Dolphin Coast, as well as a huge choice of Bed and breakfasts and hostels that have sprung up in preparation of the World Cup. The altitude and temperature of Durban in June / July also adds to the appeal of hosting the Summer Olympics in 2020.

As an added bonus to Durban, and sure to boost the city's Olympic bid, the International Olympic Committee have selected Durban as the host city for their 2011 conference, which will surely provide all the first hand evidence they need to prove that the world class city of Durban can host the Olympic Games in 2020.

As well as the huge choice of Durban hotels and attractions, the sheer beauty of the seaside city has delighted those that have just been hosted at the World Cup, and the surrounding areas offer a huge variety of day trips to the famous game reserve of Hluhluwe Umfolozi, which is home to the Big Five. To the west is the impressive Drakensberg mountain range and the Valley of a Thousand Hills and Shakaland Zulu Cultural Village are all within easy day drives from you Durban beach hotel!

To find out more about Durban's bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics, as well as online booking for Durban hotels and Durban attractions, log onto www.durbanhotelshop.com.

Graeme Watson http://www.durbanhotelshop.com

Singapore Summer Youth Olympics 2010 - A Herculean Task For A Tiny Nation

It was a close call between the final Youth Olympic Games host contenders Singapore and Moscow. As suggested by the votes of 53 to 44. The island-nation erupted into a collective delirium although there were skeptics amongst the citizens. There are many factors that worked in Singapore's favour which will be further discussed.

To begin with, Singapore did not see itself in contention as recently as July 2007. The Prime Minister believed it was not ready to host the Games. Firstly, the National Stadium was only demolished last year to make way for a new complex. The Singapore Sports Hub, where the Stadium is located is expected to be completed only in 2011.

The city-state may not have any prior record in hosting events the magnitude of the Olympics. However, it has hosted a regional biennial sporting meet thrice. Hence, Singapore is very much experienced in the planning and organising the logistics involved. The biennial event is the Southeast Asian Peninsula [SEAP] Games in 1973; and its successor, the Southeast Asian [SEA] Games in 1983 and 1993.

But in true Singaporean fashion, everyone from the various government agencies, the various corporations and the man in the street rallied together. Ensuring the Youth Olympics Games come to these shores.

What worked towards Singapore's favour? Chiefly amongst which is the emphasis on youth and efficiency. The Bid included integrated sports, youth and cultural educational programmes. Even the official website has "youth" and "vibrancy" stamped all over. As reflected by the music and that cute animated Olympic flame-carrying mascot.

Other factors that come into play:

* Singapore's reputation for delivering results on time and beyond expectations

* Singapore's compactness means travelling between sporting venues takes up at most 30 minutes

* Advanced physical infrastructures, namely transport and technological

* Singapore's multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious background

* The much-vouched safe and secure environment due to harsh legal penalties that are in place

* English is widely spoken and understood as it is Singapore's business and official language

As such, Games participants, their families/chaperones, the international media and dignitaries may just encounter minimal problems during their stay. In the cosmopolitan city which is recently ranked second, after the United States in terms of Most Competitive Economy. With that said, the tagline "Blazing the Trail" is not only apt for Singapore. But for future Youth Olympic host cities too.

Ange Teo is the Founder of e2m expat etiquette mentoring, a Singapore-based Cross-Cultural Communications Solutions Provider.

She has worked with some of the world's leading multinational companies and Singapore-based small medium enterprises for over 20 years. Thus, Ange Teo has a good understanding on the intricacies of Intercultural work relations. Besides her intense belief in the importance of Cross-Cultural Competency - a critical aspect of an organization's global competitive advantage.

For more information about e2m Cultural Intelligence [CQ]-focused Communications Solutions, please visit e2m expat etiquette mentoring. An Interculturalist's perspective on Life, the Cosmoverse and Everything : the blue marble we live in

Dubai Ready to Bid For Olympics 2020 and World's Exhibition

Hosting an event like Olympics is not a small deal, running a promotional campaign alone may cost millions of dollars. But then again, what was the last time when you heard of anything small coming out of Dubai? It has been long since Dubai has stopped doing anything "small". From Palm Islands (world's largest man made island) to Burj Dubai (World's tallest building), Dubai has gone for everything grand and that too in a grand manner. There should be no doubt in anybody's mind that Dubai will bid for 2020 Olympics, especially after Qatar had for 2016 games. It is quite evident that Dubai is keen to rank itself among the topmost cities of the world and it seems to be aware of the fact that all it takes is one Olympic games and bang, suddenly the host city will become the center of attention for all four corners of the world. Add World's expo that takes place every five years and you've got an unbeatable combination of sports, business, tourism and media's focus.

International Olympic Committee chooses one city among all of the candidates (this selection is made seven years before the year of the Olympics). The committee currently consists of 112 regular and 23 honorary members. The host is decided by majority vote; whereas the members coming from the competing cities are not allowed to cast their votes. As said earlier, hosting Olympic Games is not a small deal and many candidates do not even make it to the final stage of selection, as their proposals are rejected on the basis of insufficient preparations and resources. Before the voting, each of the short listed candidates run extensive promotional campaigns, while the IOC evaluation commission visits these cities for inspection of stadiums, Olympic village and other preparations.

What are the chances for Dubai?

Despite of its past record of pulling off projects which were deemed impossible for many, it'd be hard nevertheless for Dubai to get elected as the host. Primarily because of its weather which is scorching hot in summers. On the other hand, such drawbacks were also there when they announced the now-completed (almost) projects like Burj Dubai or Dubai Metro. There's no doubt that it takes much more to host Olympic games than erecting a super tall building, still when we talk about Dubai, we can expect some serious efforts with decent chance of success.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum has recently set up a committee, which will explore the likelihood of Dubai successfully hosting events like Olympic Games and world's Expo in 2020. Bear in mind that Dubai considered bidding for 2016 games as well, however it didn't go off. This time, we can safely assume that they'll go on with the bid, making Dubai the second Arab city to vow for Olympic hosting and probably the first to host one. Who knows?

William King is the director of UAE Dubai Property and Pakistan Real Estate. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

Before we know it the Winter Olympics will be here and people from all over the world will be invading Vancouver, BC Canada. The games will be held on
February 12-28 2010. There has been a lot of work done around Vancouver and Whistler in preparation for the big games. The last Olympics that were held in Canada was in Calgary, Alberta in 1988. The excitement is building as the final preparations are being put in place for this special event.

Here are some of the event sites.

Cypress Mountain- West of Vancouver BC. where snowboarding, freestyle skiing, moguls and ski cross will take place.

Whistler Sliding Area - Blackcomb Mountain is the site for the bobsleigh, Luge, and Skeleton

Whistler Creekside - Whistler Mountain will host the Alpine Skiing, Downhill, and the Super G.

Whistler Olympic Park - Callaghan Valley will hold the Biathlon, Cross country Skiing, Nordic Combined, and Ski Jumping.

UBC Winter sports Centre - University of B.C. is the home of the Ice Hockey games and Ice Sledge Hockey.

Pacific Coliseum - Hastings Park will have the Figure Skating events and Short Track SpeedSkating.

Hillcrest/ Nat Bailey Stadium Park will have the Curling events.

General Motors Place - Downtown Vancouver will also hold some of the Hockey games.

BC Place Stadium will hold the Opening and Closing ceremonies as well as nightly victory ceremonies.

Whistler Celebration Plaza will also hold some of the Victory celebration ceremonies.

Ticket sales.

Tickets will go on sale around October 11, 2008. You can go to http://www.cosport.com to fill out an inquiry form.

They will be sold in 4 different stages. Ticket prices will range from $25.00 - $1100.00.

Opening Ceremonies $175-$1100

Closing Ceremonies $175-$775

Ice Hockey Finals $350, $450, $775

Figure Skating Gala Exhibition $175-$525

The Cheapest tickets will be for the cross country skiing $25-$75 and the Women's Ice Hockey will have some for $25.

Some the more sought after events will be sold as a lottery. There will also by an on-line ticket buy-sell exchange program.

General information.

It would be best to start planning your trip to the Winter Olympics as soon as possible as lodging could be limited. If you plan on flying, the airport is Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Whistler is about a 2 hour drive from the airport. Another lodging alternative would be to stay in Seattle WA. The airport in Seattle is called Sea-Tac Airport. It is about a 3 hour drive and you would have the border crossing to go through. Remember that passports are required at the crossing.

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