Establishing a Local Presence in an Olympic Host City

Ni hao!  As a veteran of seven Olympic Games (Beijing will actually be my 8th!), I have been fortunate to experience the hospitality and logistics components of global event management since 1988.  Currently, I am based in Beijing to manage SportsMark’s operations at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.  Until late 2006, I was living in Berlin, Germany to oversee SportsMark’s largest FIFA World Cup™ operations to date, and prior to that, I managed SportsMark’s Olympic office in Athens, Greece. 

In all of these locations, SportsMark and I have worked closely with corporate sponsors, Local Olympic Organizing Committees (LOC), and local venues and suppliers to coordinate and deliver exceptional guest experiences during these major global sporting events.  Throughout my experience, I’ve learned that relationships and cultural understanding are everything.  Therefore, in order to establish business relationships, understand and appreciate the culture – both at and away from the office, and learn about local venues and suppliers, it is critical to establish a local presence in the host city well in advance of the event.

As we anxiously prepare for the excitement and challenges of the Beijing Olympics, I thought I would share some of the key takeaways I have learned throughout my experience. 

• Analyze the host city:  When planning for an office in a host city, SportsMark will perform an in-depth analysis of the city’s resources, such as hotel rooms, local destination management company (DMC) suppliers, vehicles, restaurants, special event venues, hospitality management schools, etc.  This analysis helps us to determine how aggressive we need to be in securing supplemental resources like hotel rooms, as an example.

• Partner with a DMC or go it alone:  Depending on the city, business culture and licensing requirements, language, and other challenges, we will determine what makes the most sense for SportsMark and our clients.  We may set up independent operations, as we did in Germany, where local resources were available, and it was less challenging to establish an office.  Or, it may make more sense to partner with an existing DMC, as we did in Athens and Beijing. 

• Hire and train the most experienced staff possible:  We have built a core operations team in Beijing that consists of English and Chinese speaking staff from Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, Germany, and the USA.  We have been fortunate, as many of our staff have sought us out because of our reputation in the industry and through word of mouth.  For example, my key coordinator in Beijing, who previously worked as a local staff for us in Sydney, was living in China, and tracked us down. 
  
  For the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, we have hired over 350 local staff, mostly through our relationship with our DMC and a reputable local hospitality and tourism school.  We have done extensive training over a six month period, focusing on customer service, Olympic knowledge and hospitality vocabulary, venue information, first aid training, cultural differences, and more.  The end result is that we are able to provide the strongest, most well-trained staff for our clients, while leaving a legacy of skilled and experienced local hospitality staff in the respective host cities.

• Become culturally aware:  Every company and individual who works in the international market says they are culturally sensitive, but my experience is that they are not.  Most expats I encounter have some basic things down, but they really never dig deep enough to have the depth of understanding.  In other words, this is a lot more than saying you enjoy Chinese food or that you like to sing Karaoke.  If you are not genuine and sincere, the locals will see through you in a minute.  It is critical to understand business culture.  For example, in Athens at every business meeting, you were expected to be late and to drink coffee and casually chat for the first 20 minutes. 

• Gain the trust of staff, suppliers and the Local Organizing Committee:  Fortunately, SportsMark’s reputation and experience goes a long way.  I am usually able to build on this foundation by working closely with the LOC to provide supportive consulting.  This relationship is usually a trust that builds over time.  In Beijing, it has taken more than one year, but I feel we have a strong relationship with BOCOG, and this will prove invaluable to the success of our clients’ corporate hospitality programs.  It is also critical to have a mutual trust with all of our suppliers.   Again, this is developed through our staff’s professionalism and experience.

If you work with SportsMark to design and manage your corporate hospitality program, you can be assured that the program will not only reflect your objectives and strategies, there will also be a solid plan in place that focuses on building our local presence and relationships in the host city.  Ultimately, your programs will be more seamless, productive, and successful, while being infused with the flavors and colors of the local culture.

We’re looking forward to kicking off the Olympics on 8.08.08!  In the meantime, send any topics of interest to us at solutions@sportsmark.com.

Walt