According to the International Olympic Committee, the Winter Games of 2022 in Beijing were watched by more than 2 billion people worldwide. The Olympics have been a uniting force for so many countries that participate and even more so for countries that host. Although the price tag can be scary at first, the host countries can have positive results in more ways than one.
- People feel a sense of pride when being involved in the Olympics
In a survey, 18 out of 21 countries said that the Olympic games were “important to their national pride.” People all over the world can feel united as a country when their country is competing in the games. Their sense of pride is only deepened when their country is front and center as the host and they get to share their culture on such a big stage. - After hosting the games people will visit the host country more One visitor every second was welcomed to England the year after the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. This was a 12% increase compared to the numbers before hosting the games.
- After hosting the games, countries have more global economic opportunities Trade is about 30% higher for countries after they host the Olympics in their country. Researchers have used trade models to show that hosting a major event like the Olympics has a positive impact on national exports for these countries.
- With that, countries have new trade negotiations open up 6 new countries opened up new trade negotiations between 1955 and 2008 after being named hosts of the Olympic games. This may be due to the fact that “the very act of bidding [for the Games] serves as a credible signal that a country is committing itself to trade liberalization that will permanently increase trade flows,” according to economics professors Robert A. Baade, PhD, and Victor A. Matheson, PhD.
- People who haven’t visited the country before will be more inclined to visit after hosting It isn’t a surprise that a country will have a boost in tourism when they host a major event like the Olympics. For example, 56% of foreign visitors to Brazil for the 2016 Summer Olympics were new visitors to the country.
- Finally, more job opportunities will be available to the citizens of the host country after the games Although it may seem that the people of the host country may be negatively impacted by the games, there are new careers that open up to the citizens. For instance, after the 2012 London Olympics, there were 159 million more people in the area employed than the year prior.
