Sjoerd

So much negativity here. The opening ceremony was wonderful, I have seen some great sports on TV, and all reports I read and watch tell me that the atmosphere in Athens is wonderful.
All in all it is great PR for Athens and Greece and if the Games continue in this way I am sure the city and country will benefit for many years to come. (just like Barcelona did after the 1992 Olympics)
Tourism may be down right now (mainly as a result of the horror stories which were mostly untrue), but will certainly pick up after the Games.

Analise

Ladies gymnastics has always been a very popular ticket. I could not believe how empty the arena is when I've seen the gymnastists compete. If they can't sell those tickets, forget it.

Dogspit

A few random thoughts:

1. Is the Olympics a thing of the past thanks to Osama? Can they afford to continue in a climate where security concerns make them overly costly?
2. How much as worldwide anti-Americanism contributed to the lack of (Americans in) attendance? While I don't know of any specific Greek examples of anti-Americanism, a lot of people tend to lump Europe together. With all the anit-Americanism coming from places like France, Germany, and even the U.K., I'd imagine a lot of Americans have no interest in travelling to Europe just to put up with the B.S.
3. Greece, and specifically Athens, is a tourist destination already. If you want to go there to see the sites, wouldn't you specifically avoid going during the Olympics when crowds and security are likely to cause consternation?
4. With the exception of a few sports (soccer, gymnastics, maybe basketball), does anyone really care about the Olympics? Most people couldn't name a sprinter or a swimmer - much less a weightlifter or badmitton player - from their country 3 months ago. Hell, most probably still couldn't today.

david55

part of the problem is the TV coverage.... boring, drawn out, and way too many commercials making it nearly impossible to watch.

stimpy

The TV coverage in France (broadcast TV) isn't boring, has very few commercials and they show lots of sports that you'll never see in the US. Instead of showing boring "life stories" of the athletes and travelogues, they actually show the sports. Sure, I get to see nearly every event France particiaptes in, but they show other countries too. I'm going to the UK in a couple of days and I expect to see good coverage there too.

As for Athens, I'm sure they will have a very positive future. Already the city has had a huge upgrade in infrastructure which will help for years to come. The word is that every Greek person is behaving extremely friendly to the tourists so they should get plenty of "word of mouth" advertisement and repeat visitors.

As for future Olympics, I expect the upcoming 2006 games in Torino to be a huge hit. It's in the Alps where all the rest of the Alps fans can drive to the games rather than fly. As for the 2008 Games, you can be darn sure that the Chinese government will have all the seats filled at even the most mundane event.

Finally for grins, check out Dave Barry who is running a daily column in Athens. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...ts/dave_barry/

jessej

appearently they want to disguise the low attendence

since the tv cameras are everywhere
they are going to let people who bought the upper level cheap seats
move into the unsold seast for high visibility events that are shown on TV

so only the upper half of the venues will be empty
and hopefull the cameras wont pan that high up

jessej

the other issue is that people try to GOUGE the visitors who are coming

then once peoiple see those prices
and look at the option of the $200 cable package
many end up watching from their sofas

i have greece on my list of places to visit during the next 2 years
but i'm not going to show up when all the prices have been jacked up 50% to 1000%

david55

I agree with all your comments!

We, I think, will be some of the lucky recipients of all the sprucing up.... we are making a three week trip to Greece next April on B/E Delta award tickets........

l etoile

While Greece may not see much payoff now, I think it will come in future years. Since the games started, I've had several friends ask me about travel to Greece and where to go. I suspect a big part of the low turnout this year has to do with the crazy prices people were asking for rooms in Athens during the games. If I remember right, tom911 mentioned hotels were asking ridiculous amount - $700 a night or so - for basic rooms.

Bruiser

And one of the problems is that there is so much shopping inside the actual venues and Olympic village that shops in Plaka etc. aren't getting much businss. I personally think the media has overdone it in the "terrorism" possibilities.

I also know that most Greeks go on holiday at this time - and wouldn't you if the Olympics were coming to your town?

Sjoerd

There is very little "anti-Americanism" in Europe. Almost everybody in Europe disagrees with your president, but we know that at least 50% of Americans hate Mr. Bush, too, so individual Americans are as welcome and well treated as always here.

Sjoerd

Are you aware that in some countries badminton, weightlifting or rowing are as big a sport as baseball or basketball in the US? For your information, the Olympics were not designed as an American event, they are a global contest for all to enjoy.
So yes, there are lots of people who *do* care about badminton or weightlifting, it is just that they may not be living in the USA.

Sjoerd

I don't know where you live, but here in the Netherlands the TV coverage is exciting, well presented and we have very few commercials. I am watching at least an hour every day.

daysleeper

^

SAT Lawyer

I know. I never would have dreamed that it would be so easy to score tickets to the Olympics, and especially the more popular events (women's gymnastics, men's basketball, track and field). I always operated under the assumption that getting Olympics tickets was a difficult and expensive endeavor, sort of like scoring tickets to the World Cup or Super Bowl. It's amazing to see how many tickets are available for many of the marquee events.