|
Can
Innsbruck recover from post-games depression?
How Innsbruck as
twice host of the Olympic Winter Games (1964/1976) tried to re-invent
itself as a first class winter sport event destination in terms
of infrastructure and know-how
Markus Redl
Secretary General of the 2005 World University Winter Games, Innsbruck,
Austria
The City of Innsbruckâs sporting tradition of hosting the 1964 and
1976 Olympic Winter Games resulted in a long-lasting positive legacy
of sports and other infrastructure on the one hand and promotion
of tourism on the other hand. The Olympic Winter Games had put a
relatively small inner-alpine city with a population of around 120,000
on the world map. Numerous other major events such as the 1968 Winter
Universiade, the 1985 FIS Nordic Ski World Championships and twice
the Paralympic Winter Games (1984/1988) followed.
However, at the end of the 1980s
the standard of the sports infrastructure originally built for the
Olympic Winter Games seemed unacceptably poor for the time. Also,
the City of Innsbruck was in financial trouble which again was widely
associated with still paying off Olympic debts. A new political
leadership started radical financial reform in 1994, effectively
consolidating the cityâs budget within the following years. A long-term
modernization plan was laid out for the existing sports infrastructure.
Hence a total of ¥150 million - raised by all governmental layers
and private investors - was invested in the areaâs sports facilities
between 1999 and 2005. As most of the venues are run and maintained
by the public, future operating costs and potential revenue streams
had been carefully evaluated. The investments included the re-construction
of the ÎBergisel ski jumpâ designed by Zaha Hadid which soon was
to become the symbol of this new era.
Due to the newly improved situation,
major sports events such as the 2005 Winter Universiade and the
2005 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships were successfully hosted.
Future events already secured include the 2007 FIL Luge World Championships
and the 2008 European Soccer Championships. Since 2000 the City
of Innsbruck participated in international scientific networks in
regards to sports events such as SENTEDALPS (Sport Event Network
for Tourism and Economic Development in the ALPine Space). However,
a formal public agency at local or regional level aiming to systematically
manage major events know-how and relations to event owners has not
yet been founded. Then again, even in winter sports, competition
between event destinations is growingly fierce and it might be necessary
to actively build a cityâs, a regionâs or even a countryâs Îmajor
sport event portfolioâ in the future.
During the 1990s Innsbruck voters
had stopped two initiatives aspiring to bid for the right to host
the 2002 and the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. A third Olympic Winter
Games in Innsbruck are clearly back on the political agenda as also
public support grew through the improvements made in between 1999
and 2005. However, Innsbruck has not yet succeeded in this respect,
as the Austrian Olympic Committee decided to nominate Graz (2002),
Klagenfurt (2006) and Salzburg (2010/2014) as Austrian candidates.
The reasons for not putting forward Innsbruck for 2014 may well
include a pragmatic approach of improving a tested international
bid as with Salzburg on the one hand and a lack of strategic finesse
on behalf of Innsbruck on the other. The interesting question is
why Austria should indeed host the Olympic Winter Games, yet again.
What are the desired legacies and what can be offered to the International
Olympic Committee?
Bibliography
Chappelet, Jean-Loup: Three Olympic Cities in the Alps : What Torino
can learn from Grenoble and Innsbruck?, 31.03.2006, http://www.sentedalps.org/imgUsr/45200695718am.pdf
|
