Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
World Games proves a tough sell for Taiwan
After the globe giggled at Athens in 2004 for letting swathes of Olympics seats go empty, organisers of the far more obscure 2009 World Games in equally obscure Taiwan are doing whatever it takes to pack the venues for such unlikely events as billiards and beach handball. Tug-of-war, anyone?
Whatever it takes, in this case, includes selling seats to China. World Games host city Mayor Chen Chu travelled there on Thursday for a four-day visit, intending to sell the 90 percent of events tickets that are unclaimed so far before the curtain goes up on July 16.
Chen is a leading figure in a Taiwan opposition party that wants formal independence for self-ruled Taiwan, which mighty Beijing claims as its own for historical reasons and has threatened to take by force.
But she’s also “realistic and pragmatic,” to quote Taiwan political scientist Andrew Yang. She knows Beijing can use its authoritarian rule to send hordes of travel-hungry Chinese tourists to the World Games, quickly quashing any Athens-style absenteeism.
“You can’t ignore such a large group of the world’s public, and her polls have shown that some people in her city support more contact with China,” said Kou Chien-wen, a politics professor in Taipei.
Chen plans to market the 300,000 World Games tickets and her normally uneventful city Kaohsiung to countries besides China, but who else will have the power or interest in packing her stadiums?
PHOTO: Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu (L) presents an invitation of the 2009 World Games to her Beijing counterpart Guo Jinlong during their meeting in Beijing May 21, 2009. REUTERS/China Daily
World Games bring spotlight to southern Taiwan
2008 was undoubtedly China’s year in the limelight, thanks to the Beijing Olympics. But this year, China’s longtime political and diplomatic rival Taiwan gets the World Games
And it’s not Taiwan’s frenetic, fashionable capital Taipei which will be hosting the event. Instead, the island’s second largest city and one of the world’s busiest ports, Kaohsiung, will be home to the 16-26 July extravaganza.
The World Games, held under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee, is for some of the sports which don’t make the cut for the Olympics. That includes billiards, tug of war, sumo, squash, water skiing and even life saving.
“For the spectators, at the venues as well as in front of TV sets, the particular fascinations of The World Games are found in watching these athletes compete in sports of a kaleidoscopic variety that is without match in the entire Olympic Movement,” is how the organisation describes the event.
What I have found most fascinating is the preparations Kaohsiung has been making for the Games, particularly as I covered the Beijing Olympics and the run-up to it.
Beijing was beset by problems, all well-documented, including worries over pollution, media freedom, the poor foreign language skills of its citizens and many, many other issues, though in the end it all went off more or less smoothly.
Having been to Kaohsiung many times over the past decade and several times over the last few months, I have been fascinated to observe their build-up.
That solar-panel-covered stadium is beautiful. I’ve only been to Kaohsiung once (and only to transfer from a train to a bus), but I’d love to go back and see that stadium.
Let’s get an update on that “tough sell,” shall we?
http://tinyurl.com/me7fpj
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Kaohsiung 60% booked
More than 60 percent of the hotel rooms that normally cater to foreign tourists in Kaohsiung City have been booked ahead of the World Games to be held in Kaohsiung City next month, a business source said yesterday. Lin Chun-liang (林俊良), CEO of the Kaohsiung Tourist Hotel Association, said the occupancy rates at eight local tourism hotels are averaging nearly 70 percent over the period from July 13 to July 29, which overlaps with the period when the Games will be held from July 16 to July 26. Meanwhile, the occupancy rate at other hotels in the city also hit approximately 60 percent, Lin said. To support the games, 29 hotels affiliated with the association are offering their rooms at a preferential rate of NT$2,000 per night on average, Lin said, adding that the association is keen to promote tourism in Kaohsiung as the World Games also falls during the peak season for domestic travel.
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Tim Maddog,
A Taiwan Matters blogger