Following, provided by Annecy 2018, is an unedited transcript of remarks made by Annecy 2018 CEO Charles Beigbeder and Vice President Jean-Pierre Vidal at the AIPS Congress in Seoul, South korea – Wednesday March 23, 2011.
Speaker: Charles BEIGBEDER
Mr President… Members of A.I.P.S.
Please allow me to begin by thanking you for this opportunity to present our plans for Annecy 2018.
As you may know, I am relatively new to the bid… and to the international media…
Indeed, this is my first A.I.P.S meeting… although the first of many, I hope…
Today, I’m joined by Olympic Downhill Champion, and Annecy 2018 ViceP resident, Jean-Pierre Vidal.
Annecy is a city that often surprises.
A smaller city, by population – yet one with a rich history and culture.
A celebrated alpine destination – which is also home to a full range of summer sports.
And a place renowned as the gateway to Mont Blanc – which has also been blessed with its own incredible natural beauty: the lake.
Our goal is to take everything that our surprising city offers and use it to deliver truly memorable Games…
Authentic Games… at the heart of the mountains.
Which reunite the rich mountain heritage of the Alps with the power of Olympic and Paralympic sport to stage a unique celebration.
One hosted by welcoming local communities, and graced by their character and spirit.
We will also offer a new blueprint to help secure the economic and environmental prosperity of the mountains… and support the sustainable
growth of winter sport. And, with athletes responsible for the plans, we will ensure that sport will be
at the top of every agenda.
Annecy 2018 is a bid from the mountains, with the athletes and for the future.
The first of our three guiding principles is to celebrate the mountains.
Annecy is known as the “Venice of the Alps”.
We are blessed with the unique atmosphere and attractions that have drawn millions of international visitors for more than a century.
Annecy 2018 will harness this natural beauty and rich mountain heritage to deliver exceptional Games.
Our second principle is to stage Games on a human scale.
Annecy 2018 will be fully integrated with the local mountain communities.
And fully supported by them.
The Games will be intimate, friendly and accessible, with a compact design based on two iconic sites: the historic city… and the Chamonix-Mont Blanc resort.
Getting to… and getting around… both sites will be easy…
Allowing athletes, all members of the Olympic Family and spectators maximum time to enjoy our unique celebration.
One that will be characterised by the generosity of our mountain communities.
People who are delighted to share everything with visitors…
And, of course, because both the Annecy and Chamonix-Mount Blanc hubs will offer a mix of snow… and ice… and cultural events, every visitor… at every venue… will be able to enjoy the widest possible range of sport, ceremonies and celebration.
Finally, our third principle is to develop and deliver a vision for the mountains of the 21st Century.
This region has been guided and shaped by Olympism.
In 1924, Chamonix hosted the first Olympic Winter Games, and provided the template for subsequent Games.
It also accelerated the development of winter sport.
Almost 100 years later, both the Games and winter sports have grown incredibly.
As has our understanding of the value of the mountains.
So now, we need to evolve a new vision – one that delivers sustainable growth.
The Games can be the catalyst to help develop and deliver this vision.
By hosting the greatest winter sport event in the world, Annecy wants to accelerate the move towards sustainable, year-round tourism.
To lay new foundations for the relationship between Man and the mountain, worldwide.
And to offer support to help develop the Games of the future.
Allow me to show a short film that details our plans.
Speaker: Jean-Pierre VIDAL
Mr President… Ladies and gentlemen…
I’m just one of many athletes who have helped develop our technical plan…
A plan that we believe will deliver an authentic and memorable Winter Games experience for every client group.
And deliver, for the media, a fantastic event, both to report… and to enjoy, during and after work.
The concept is built on four important strategies.
First, to bring the snow sports and the ice sports together.
So we have two venue hubs, Annecy and Chamonix Mont-Blanc…
And each will stage a mixture of snow sports and ice sports, bringing the two
sides of the Winter Games family together every day.
Second, and just like every bidding city, we want to minimise travel times and maximise the efficiency and reliability of the transport system.
Our plan is compact, and linked by a dependable transport system, which is already enjoying additional strategic investment.
Third, we want to stage the Games in the heart of the cities and resorts…
A melange of culture and sport events with the welcoming local communities.
And so guaranteeing that every competitor and official… every spectator and sponsor… and every member of the media… will be part of the Games celebrations, no matter where they are.
Our fourth and final strategy is inclusivity – and applies especially to the Paralympic Games.
So we have devised a unique and highly-compact Paralympic concept…
with every event staged in one Annecy hub, in Olympic Games venues.
Overall, we believe our plan now offers excitement… integration… and innovation.
As far as the media is concerned, it also offers comfort, hospitality and value for money.
From the very start, we worked with experienced and respected media operations experts.
We designed the needs of the media… your needs… in to our venue plan.
Let me show you how.
You will enjoy a short, easy journey of just 30 minutes from our international airport, at Geneva, to the main media centres.
And also short trips – almost all of 10 minutes or less – from the secondary media centre to the venues.
Indeed, our media-specific transport plan features direct links from the Media Centres to every competition venue.
Your accommodation will be first-class quality at reasonable prices.
The rooms will be spacious… and located close to venues, with almost 40 per cent within walking distance.
And we will offer a no minimum stay guarantee, with fixed and very, very competitive prices.
Finally, we understand that the modern media needs WiFi access.
Which is why we are totally committed to providing free WiFi access.
With free access at every venue…
And also free WiFi at all media accommodation.
We are determined to consult as widely as possible to help refine our plans.
We know that it’s the media… it’s you… that makes Olympic and Parlaympic champions into household names…
And we are delighted that the Annecy team features one of the greatest winter Olympic athletes of all time, now a distinguished member of the IOC: triple Alpine gold medallist, Jean-Claude Killy…
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