the volcano. The Italians felt that in the face of such needs they could not allocate money to the hosting of an Olympic Games and asked the IOC to award the 1908 Olympics to another city.
London put itself forward to host the Games, the IOC agreed, and with less than two years notice the 1908 Games were awarded to London.
As noted in Chapter 8 on Athens 2004, the 1908 Olympics in London introduced many of the innovations that first appeared in the Intercalated Games in Athens in 1906, and which are now a core part of the Olympic spectacle, such as opening and closing ceremonies, and the alignment of athletes with nations, national flags, and national anthems. In addition, it was at the 1908 Games that the current ‘standard distance’ for the marathon (26 miles and 385 yards) was set, for no other reason than this was the distance of a course that would allow the event to start at Windsor castle and finish in front of the Royal Box in the stadium.
In 1948, London again held the Games at short notice. The Games of 1944 were originally awarded to London shortly before the outbreak of the second world war in 1939. However, once it became obvious that the war was going to last for some time, these Games were cancelled. After the end of the war, the IOC invited London to host the 1948 Games. With less than three years to prepare, and with very limited resources following the expense of both the war and the re-building effort, London once again agreed to host. The Games of 1948 were very different to those of the current day, with post-war austerity meaning that athletes were put up in schools and military barracks rather than a purpose built Olympic village, and were even asked to bring their own meals with them!
Therefore, despite having twice hosted the Games before, the 2012 Games will be the first time that London will experience a full Olympiad (2008–2012) as host, and of course the first time that the city will have the opportunity to prepare for that Olympiad.
Group’ incorporating representatives from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland and the nine English regions, with each of these areas having established their own steering groups and sub-groups to consider the potential opportunities that the Games may bring to them. As such, the primary focus of this chapter will be on the ways in which the UK is planning to spread Olympic benefits around the UK as a whole, and the ways in which tourism features in these plans.
The structure for the delivery of London 2012 is illustrated in Figure 10.1. As with all Olympics, the primary responsibility for the organization of the Games lies with the organizing commit-tee, the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG), which is the body that reports to and liaises with the International Olympic Committee. However, LOCOG is only responsible for the organization of the Games, not for providing the sporting, transport and accommodation infrastructure that will serve the Games. As such, the accounts of LOCOG do not incorporate the building costs of stadia, facilities, transport sys-tems and the Olympic Village accommodation, and it is for this reason that every Olympic Games Organizing Committee in the modern era has produced a surplus, as it is the organizing com-mittee that receives the income from television rights and spon-sorship. In the case of the London Games, an Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has been established to deliver the infrastruc-ture requirements, and it is this body, funded by government, that will incur the majority of the costs associated with the 2012 Games. Providing the link between the work of LOCOG and the ODA, and ensuring that the requisite funding is in place for all aspects of London 2012, is an Olympic Board that comprises top-level representatives of the national government, the London Mayor’s Office, LOCOG and the British Olympic Association (BOA). As of June 2007, these were Tessa Jowell (the govern-ment minister with designated responsibility for the Olympics), Ken Livingston (the Mayor of London), Lord Sebastian Coe (the Chair of LOCOG) and Lord Colin Moynihan (the Chair of the BOA).
Between them, LOCOG (and by extension the IOC), the ODA and the Olympic Board are responsible for delivering the London 2012 Olympic Games. However, as noted above, LOCOG has established a Nations and Regions Group (NRG), which as well as providing a forum for the nations and English regions of the United Kingdom to explore issues related to the 2012 Games, has primary responsibility for delivering ‘a lasting legacy’ from the 2012 Games. Consequently, the NRG also includes representa-tives of Visit Britain (the National Tourism Organization), Sport
OlympicTourism
London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG)
Nations and Regions Group (NRG)
Chaired by LOCOG and includes representatives of English Regions, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Visit Britain, Sport England & the ODA Olympic Board
Comprising the Secretary of State for Culture Media & Sport, the London Mayor, and the Chairs of LOCOG and the British Olympic Association
Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA)
NRG Secretariat provided by LOCOG
NRG Co-ordinators Group Includes designated administrative co-ordinators from the organizations represented
International Olympic Committee (IOC)
South East Partner-ship for the 2012 Games South
West England 2012 Director-ate (Team South West) London
Co-ordination Working Group Yorkshire
Commit-tee for the 2012 Games
West Midlands Leader-ship Group for the 2012 Games
Nations and Regions East East
Midlands Steering Group for the 2012 Games Wales
Steering Group for the 2012 Games Scottish
Steering Group for the 2012 Games
Northern Ireland 2012 Task Force
North East Regional Forum for the 2012 Games
North West Steering Group for the 2012 Games
Figure 10.1
The structure for the delivery of London 2012.
190
England (the lead body for the distribution of government sport funding and for sport policy) and the ODA.
Figure 10.1 shows that the NRG is serviced by a secretariat provided by LOCOG and that, in addition to the meetings of organizational representatives, there is an NRG Co-ordinators group that comprises the designated administrative co-ordinators for 2012 from each of the organizations, nations, and regions.
Each nation and region has established its own co-ordinating group/committee, with the lead organization varying, depend-ing to a certain extent on the main objectives and aims that each nation and region has for the Games. To summarize this information, Table 10.1 lists, for each nation and region, the lead organization, the long-term aims for the Games as communicated to LOCOG, the identified priority areas, and the title of their Olympic strategy (if one exists).
The NRG identifies five core areas in which there are oppor-tunities throughout the UK arising from London 2012: Business, Sport, Tourism, Culture and Volunteering. As Table 10.1 shows, each of the nations and regions identify most of these areas as priorities, although Scotland and Northern Ireland do not overtly highlight tourism or volunteering, whilst Yorkshire and the South West refer to ‘community’ rather than volunteering, and the South East refers to ‘skills’. If the ‘long-term aims’
of the nations and regions are examined, there is generally a greater emphasis on sport and culture in the regions further away from London, whilst those grouped around London have a greater emphasis on economic development and tourism. Some areas, such as the West Midlands and the East Midlands, iden-tify particular strengths, specific sports events and the facil-ities at Loughborough University, respectively, whilst others are much more generic in describing, for example, the enlargement of ‘the region’s sporting and cultural goals and programmes’
(Yorkshire).
In relation to tourism, Visit Britain is a member of the NRG, whilst the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport of the UK government is represented via the Olympic Board and indirectly on the NRG. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (in collaboration with Visit Britain and Visit London) has produced a consultation draft of ‘Welcome Legacy: Tourism Strategy for the 2012 Games’, published in July 2006 for which the consul-tation closed in November 2006. However, as of June 2007 a final strategy has yet to be produced and so the discussions and comparisons that follow are based on the consultation draft.
The Welcome Legacy tourism strategy consultation employs an Olympic tourism differentiation first suggested by Ken Robinson in his 2005 report to Visit Britain, ‘Optimizing the Benefits of the
OlympicTourism
1 . 0 1 e l b a T
s e i t i r o i r p d n a y g e t a r t s , p i h s r e d a e l – s n o i g e r d n a s n o i t a N
/ n o i t a N
n o i g e R
d a e L
n o i t a z i n a g r O
r o f m i a m r e t -g n o L
2 1 0 2 n o d n o L
f o e l t i T s p u o r g -b u s / s a e r a y t i r o i r P
y g e t a r t S
e v i t a t n e s e r p e R
G R N n o h
s i t t o c S
g n i r e e t S
e h t r o f p u o r G
s e m a G 2 1 0 2
d n a l t o c s t r o p
S • Toinspirethenationto e g a g n e o t , e v i t c a t e g
d n a n e r d li h c l o o h c s s t i
s e i t i n u m m o c g n i r b o t
n o i t a r b e l e c n i r e h t e g o t
• Sport
• Culture&Education
• EconomicDevelopment
d e h s il b u p o N
f o s a y g e t a r t s
7 0 0 2 y a M
f o r i a h C
d n a l t o c s t r o p s
s e l a W
g n i r e e t S
e h t r o f p u o r G
s e m a G 2 1 0 2
h s l e W
y l b m e s s A
t n e m n r e v o G
• Following the hosting ) f l o g ( p u C r e d y R e h t f o
o t , 2 1 0 2 n i s e l a W n i
s e m a G 2 1 0 2 e h t e s u
-u t r o p p o r e h t o n a s a
n o s e l a W t u p o t y t i n
d n a p a m d l r o w e h t
l a c i s y h p e s a e r c n i o t
r e i h t l a e h a n i y t i v i t c a
s e l a W
• Procurement, Construction,
&
t n e m y o l p m E , e r u t c u r t s a r f n I
n o i t o m o r P s s e n i s u B , s ll i k S
• Tourism
• SportsEvents
• Wales’InternationalProfile
• Sport, Physical Activity and , s t o o r -s s a r g , e t il e – h t l a e H
y t il i b a s i d
• CulturalOlympiad
• EducationProgramme
• Pre-GamesTrainingCamps
• Volunteering
d e h s il b u p o N
f o s a y g e t a r t s
7 0 0 2 y a M
t n e m t r a p e D
e h t n i r o t c e r i D
h s l e W
y l b m e s s A
t n e m n r e v o G
192