There’s a lack of interest by foreign tourists to visit the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games. Although it was estimated that more than 100,000 visitors would attend the Games daily, these amounts have been revised downwards. Global terrorist threats and an economic downturn have been blamed. An official running the Games’ private home rentals program told AFP, “keen interest has still to materialize, we’ve just booked a few hundred homes. Tour operators haven’t shown any particular interest. All demand there is comes from individuals getting in touch with us over the Internet”.
The United States is helping Greece deploy radiation detectors to prevent a radiological attack on the Summer Games. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Greece are installing fixed radiation detectors at seven locations, focusing on border crossings. NNSA is also in talks with Greece about providing technical assistance in the area of “emergency response systems”.
It’s the most expensive relay run in Olympic history. The torch relay run will cost 46.2 million euros. The run is co-sponsored by Coca-Cola and the South Korean electronics company Samsung, to the tune of 20 million euros. A portion of the cost is supposed to be covered by the sale of the torch, and runners who want the torch must pay 305 euros. Remaining torches will be auctioned off by Athens 2004.
And finally, Greek Olympic organizers said Wednesday that a controversial media village in northern Athens to house journalists and security personnel during the Games will be ready by April. There were fears that legal objections to the 400-million-euro ($507.8 million) site, which will become a major shopping and residential complex after the Games, could derail the project. Greece’s Council of State issued an injunction to stop work at the site, a former gypsy settlement, on environmental grounds, but the Greek government issued a new parliamentary bill to facilitate Olympic-related works.
