Spyns London 2012 Olympic Tours: Ballooning Costs an Olympic Tradition

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Why do countries so love grandeur? Nations vying for the games always fugdge the cost during the application process when the final bill is always double or triple the estimate. London has recently fallen victim to Olympian math. Here is a brief analysis of the estimates vs. actual costs for past summer games:

Beijing 2008 Summer Games
Estimate: $4.4 billion / Actual Cost: $58.5 billion* = Cost overrun $54 billion
These figures are difficult to confirm as the Communist Party of China isn't known for its transparancy.

Athens 2004 Summer Games:
Estimate: 4.5 billion euros / Actual Cost: 9 billion euros = Cost overrun 4.5 billion euros

Sydney 2000 Summer Games:
Estimate: AUS$3 billion / Actual Cost: AUS$6.6 billion = Cost overrun AUS$3.6 billion

Montreal 1976 Summer Games:
Esimate: CDN$310 million / Actual Cost: CDN$1.5 billion = Cost overrun CDN$1.2 billion

On average, it costs 6x the initial estimate to actually host the Olympics and London's 2012 Olympiad seems destined to follow this trend.

In keeping with Olympic tradition, Britain's Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, who also has special responsibility for the games, revised cost estimates (ahem) upward. The Olympic organising committee originally budgeted 2.4£ billion. The Labour government now projects a total pricetag of 9.3£ billion (approximately US$14 billion). Based on historical averages, the final pricetag should be somewhere between 9-14£ billion or approximately 200£ for every single British citizen. That's quite a lot of cheddar. Here is a chronology of the uptick:

2003: Consultants Arup put total cost of building and staging the Games at £1.796bn
2003: Tessa Jowell launches bid in May telling MPs it will cost £2.375bn - including a 50% contingency
2005: Bid succeeds in July with "prudent" estimate of preparing for games of £2.4bn
2006: Tessa Jowell says Olympic Park costs up to £3.3bn
2007: Olympic Park budget now at £5.3bn - including regeneration and infrastructure
2007: Total budget, including contingency, security and tax, reaches £9.35bn

Why do countries host the games? From a financial standpoint, they can bankrupt a nation like Greece for example. Is seems nations are more than willing to open the public purse for that Olympic moment. Right Athens?

For more information about Spyns and our tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympics, please visit our websites http://www.london2012-tours.com/ http://www.london-tours-2012.com or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

London 2012 Olympics: 80% of Brits Hate Logo

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Fuschia? Someone call Sir Elton.

Unveiled in 2007, the 400,000£ logo for the 2012 games in London caused quite a stir. Some called it "visionary" others found it "ghastly." An Ipsos poll found that two-thirds of British adults disapproved. Journalists even dusted off the worst new-media insult: "It causes epileptic seizures." Some say it resembles Lisa Simpson giving Bart oral pleasure. Reviews are mixed to be sure.

Sadly, the logo is here to stay. The colours are striking but it fails to convey a coherent message in my opinion. The designers said it reached out to engage Britain's youth. The result feels a bit "Ikea Gansta" conveying a level of incongruity not seen since June Cleaver spoke jive in "Airplane." Not surprisingly, the design team was from Wolff Olins which has no offices in Harlem according to the firm's letterhead. Far from tapping Snoop Dogg's street cred, I imagine a group of bald Swedish men sitting around saying things like, "Yo' Svend. What up?"

By contrast, the best Olympic logos convey the host city/country, year, and energy. Although dated, the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic logo instantly conveys a truly American message. I also found the Albertville '92 winter Olympic logo actually (gasp) conveyed such vanguard ideas as "winter" and "Olympics."

If the purpose of a brand is to convey an instant message, this design is rather off the mark. To me this logo says, "Yo Svend, they Limey mofos paid 400 large for dis."

For more information about Spyns and our tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympics, please visit our websites http://www.london2012-tours.com/ http://www.london-tours-2012.com or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

London 2012 Olympics Tours: Tant Pis Paris

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Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC. We will be offering tours to the London 2010 Olympic games including hotels, sporting events tickets, and VIP access to the opening and closing ceremonies.

London won the games as we all know. I lived in France for a number of years, my wife is French, and my children speak French fluently but I'll be damned if I understand them. Case in point: Paris was the hands-down favourite for the 2012 games and yet lost to arch-rival London in a close 54-50 vote. Why? Nationwide strikes during an official International Olympic Committee visit to the French capital probably didn't hurt. Therein lies the story.

The French are non-conformists. While dining with French friends or family, I often delight in making sweeping generalizations like, "The French are all non-confirmists!" and titter when one of them takes the bait. "I disagree," said my Burgundian father-in-law. By disagreeing, he only proved by point. Whereas the Yanks, Canadians (Editor's Note: the author is Canadian), and Brits long to be loved, the French couldn't give a damn and this nonchalance eventually cost them the games. Most of France supported the games yet a few belligerent French unions saw another opportunity to stage nationwide strikes. What a shame.

Paris would have been the ideal host city - perhaps even better than London. The city of London is terribly overcrowded with creaky infranstructure. Paris on the other hand is a sprawling city with excellent infrastructure and an unparalelled transportation system. It all works remarkably well but devolves into utter chaos during the frequent transportation strikes. Such is France.

Case in point: I always enjoy skiing in France but the lift lines are complete and utter chaos. I'm always astonished at the French love of queue jumping. Everyone from well-to-do Parisian grandparents to helmet-sporting pre-schoolers crush skis in a bizarre attempt to get ahead of eachother. It's the same fiasco at any French airport, bus stop or taxi stand. For a nation founded on fraternité (brotherhood), I have never once had someone give me their parking space or say, "No please. After you." Not surprising then at the unions saw a golden opportunity to promote their agenda at the expense of Paris's failed bid.

And so London 2012 became a reality. Tant pis Paris.

For more information about Spyns and our tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympics, please visit our websites http://www.london2012-tours.com/ http://www.london-tours-2012.com or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

O Boris Where Art Thou?

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What better way to start a blog about the London 2012 Olympics than with Boris Johnson (London's mayor). An unabashed Anglophile, I was thrilled when London bested arch-enemy Paris to win the 2012 summer Olympics. Then the world imploded but we'll get to that in another blog.

I've always enjoyed Johnson's politically incorrect television appearances. Things got better when he was elected mayor of London, perhaps because no one was more surprised at the win than Boris. Johnson is the quintessential dishevelled Etonian and is quite happy to play the buffoon in front of cameras. Therein lies his genius. Imagine my anticipation when he flew down to Beijing for the traditional "passing of the Olympic flag" at the 2008 Olympiad's closing ceremony. He did not disappoint.

Boris was smartly turned out for the closing ceremony. An unabashed colonialist who once suggested England could solve its overpopulation by repossessing northern France, he looked a little overwhelmed while waving the Olympic flag. But who wouldn't? To everyone's surprise, he was elected mayor of London and other than a few stints as a journalist in Brussels, had little experience in international affairs. Cut to the closing ceremony. A billion people were watching him so Johnson put down his gin & tonic and enthusiastically waved the Olympic flag. Mouth firmly shut, he did an excellent job but a storm was coming.

Following the ceremony, Johnson spoke at an impromptu press gathering and rambled on for a few minutes before declaring "ping pong is coming home". Prime Minister Gordon Brown fidgeted in the background. It was a masterful performance although the reference to ping poing, a rather obvious slight against China, was unfortunate. Hopefully Johnson will still be mayor in 2012.

Changing gears, my tour company (Spyns) will soon be launching its London 2010 tours website. We are setting a rather ambitious goal of 500+ clients for the next summer Olympiad. I've reserved http://www.london2012-tours.com/ as a website and fully expect some City trademark lawyer to threaten a lawsuit for using the terms "London 2012." Damn the torpedoes! Before the Olympics, I will also interview and have a photo taken with Sir Boris.

For more information about Spyns and our tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympics, please visit our websites http://www.london2012-tours.com/ http://www.london-tours-2012.com or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.