About 300 people – including 70 athletes – will be in Turin next month studying the 2006 Winter Games from security arrangements to ticket sales, in preparation for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games, reports CBS.
Belgian Gilbert Van Kerckhove whose Beijing-based consulting group advises the city and businesses looking for Olympic contracts said it was a last rehearsal for 2008. “It’s a reality check about the Games”.
Shao Shiwei, a media official for Beijing 2008 said, “for a Summer Games host the real value of the Winter Games is in the process”.
Shao said 11 middle managers from the Beijing committee are already in Italy and will be there for the duration of the Games to study such operations as credentials and venue management. According to CBS Beijing organizers plan to cycle about 150 officials through Turin, some to study the logistics of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, others to run a publicity office for the 2008 Games.
The Beijing Olympic Committee will soon increase its staff from 600 to 1,000 said Shao.
The IOC has urged local organizers to focus on media operations, with 20,000 members of the media expected in Beijing.
Businesses have said plans for security systems and transportation appear to be falling behind schedule. Van Kerckhove said, “time is sort of running out. Some fear China is running behind on the details”.
