It is tomorrow at 5 p.m. in the business center of Nice Côte d’Azur Airport that Christian Estrosi will gather sports partners and institutional Actors to officially announce Nice’s candidacy. On the same day at 12 p.m., Henri Sérandour will hold a press conference at the French sports house in Paris to announce “in accordance with the decisions made by the board of directors, the ambitions of French sports regarding the organization of major international sports events.” There will indeed be a French city candidate, and Nice will compete nationally with Grenoble and Annecy, while Gap has just withdrawn its candidacy through its Deputy Mayor, Roger Didier. We will have to wait until March 2009 to know the decision of the CNOSF, which will state which city will compete with other candidates such as Munich (Germany), Geneva (Switzerland), Sofia (Bulgaria), Tromso (Norway), Denver Lake-Salt Lake City-Squaw Valley (United States), Bukovel (Ukraine), PyengChang (South Korea), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Harbin (China), and Bojormi (Georgia).
According to estimates from the Mayor of Gap, the cost of the national candidacy would amount to 20 million euros, and for a final candidacy, the budget can go up to 100 million euros. The competition between the three French destinations already looks fierce, although the tourist attractions of the Côte d’Azur could tip the balance in favor of Nice. The local hotel infrastructure is more than capable of offering a range of varied and suitable accommodations for such major competitions. Furthermore, the Mercantour resorts are among the most beautiful national resorts and already have strong experience in organizing major national competitions.
But let’s not be chauvinistic, and there is no doubt that the best proposal will make it to the first French Olympic finish line before moving on to serious affairs on the global stage.
