Annecy’s bid for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games got a boost Tuesday when it secured six new sponsorship deals.
The bid committee’s budget was increased by three million euros ($4.28 million) to 30 million euros, after it secured six new sponsorship deals from Air France, Havas Sports and Entertainment, GDF Suez, Insitut Merieux, and GL Events.
Annecy 2018 CEO Charles Beigbeder told a press conference, “this money will allow us to be more efficient in the international promotion of our bid”.
Annecy 2018’s vice president Jean-Pierre Vidal said he received good feedback from International Olympic Committee (IOC) members after its evaluation commission’s visit to the venues in February. The IOC said Annecy’s bid had improved after a difficult start.
He added, “and during our presentation at the SportAccord conference earlier this month in London, we also promoted the outstanding setting of our bid. I think it worked well”.
Beigbeder said the next big stage will be next month in Lausanne, Switzerland, when the three bid cities will make formal presentations to the IOC members. Annecy is bidding against PyeongChang and Munich for the 2018 Summer Games.
He said, “this is the final sprint and we are convinced we can win. Our lobbying strategy has improved. I already met with 60 of the 100 or so IOC members who will vote. I will go on and hopefully this work will be over after Lausanne”.
