ABSTRACT
It is regularly claimed in justification for the hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games that Olympic cities can generate considerable inward tourism, both as tourism destinations in their own right, and as gateways to wider regions surrounding the host city. This chapter draws on the author’s previous work (Weed, 2008) to examine the role of Olympic cities in the generation of tourism. As context for this analysis, the early part of this chapter outlines a range of Olympic tourism products, before briefly outlining the ways in which the Olympic and Paralympic Games might be leveraged to generate tourism. The two subsequent parts of the chapter then examine, first, the ways in which Winter Olympic Cities can be tourism gateways to the wider region surrounding the host city and, secondly, the contribution of the Summer Olympic Games to the development of the host city’s tourism product and image.
