Airport. The airport will double its current capacity to 2,500 passengers per hour by 2014.

Bid Budget. The total Bid Committee budget for 2005-2007 is 27.5 million USD, 90% of which will be funded by the government.

City Economy. The area's visitor base, currently about 3 million, is expected to increase to six million annually, making efficient use of the city's infrastructure.

Compact Plan. A compact, efficient plan utilising two venue clusters only 48 km apart has the athletes’ comfort at its heart. The coastal venues average only 6 km from the Olympic Village, with three of the venues located only 1 km away from the Village. The mountain venues average only 4 km in distance to the mountain sub-Village.

Environment. Sochi includes over 200,000 hectares of forests and houses over 30,000 wild-life plant species in its botanical gardens and parks, and nature sanctuaries.

Existing Accommodations. The southern part of Sochi currently offers approximately 20,700 hotel rooms classified in 3-star to 5- star categories and an additional 4,600 rooms in the 2-star category. Additionally, there are over 20,500 rooms in "private hotels". The Krasnaya Polyana region of Sochi already offers 2,500 rooms.

Geography. Sochi sits astride the ancient Silk Road, 1,500 km south of Moscow and 1,500 km east of Athens. No Winter Games has ever taken place within an hour of Mediterranean latitudes, with alpine competitions in the snowy mountains and ice events among palm trees.

Government Commitment. Through the "Federal Target Programme for the Development of Sochi" (FTP), the Russian government has made a 11,7 billion USD commitment to the development of the Sochi region, including 7 billion USD in public funding.

Local Marketing Potential. It is estimated that the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee can generate 485 million USD in domestic marketing revenues for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, including 300 million USD from local sponsors and 125 million USD from ticket sales.

Media Accommodations. Existing 3 and 4-star hotels will account for 6,700 rooms within 10 km of the Main Media Centre (MMC). A major resort development will provide 4,500 new 3-star rooms and more than 1,000 4-star rooms within 3 km of the MMC. A unique plan will also offer convenient accommodations in 1,500 rooms within three hotels connected directly to the MMC complex through specially controlled passageways. A 500-room resort facility with a sub-Media Centre will be available for any media wishing to lodge in Sochi’s Krasnaya Polyana region. 2/2

Media Centres. The International Broadcast Centre and the Main Press Centre will be housed in a single structure in the coastal cluster, creating a Main Media Centre (MMC) with a minimum of 70,000mІ of space. A fully equipped sub-Media Centre will serve the mountain cluster in Sochi’s Krasnaya Polyana region.

Mountain Height. Mount Elbrus, in the Russian Caucasus is considered the highest mountain in Europe, at 5,642m. In contrast, France’s Mont Blanc is 4,810m.

Mountain roads. Sochi’s Krasnaya Polyana region’s road network will be upgraded and 59 km of highspeed roads to all the venues will be built.

Mountain venues. Sochi’s Roza Khutor area, funded privately by INTERROS, will host all Alpine events. It will cover 227 hectares with 15 lifts. Gazprom resort on Sochi’s Psekhako Ridge, with 13 planned lifts serving 52 hectares, will host Cross Country Skiing.

Media Transportation. The MMC will be located close to the airport (5 km) and the coastal venues (average of 5 km), and approximately 60 km from the farthest mountain venue, which will also be served by a nearby sub-Media Centre. The media centres and media accommodation areas will be interconnected with all venues by regular shuttle buses.

Planned Accommodations. In all, the development of more than 25,000 new hotel rooms of 3-star to 5-star quality is planned and guaranteed by the "Federal Target Programme for the Development of Sochi"(FTP), including 3,000 rooms in Sochi’s Krasnaya Polyana region.

Popular support. Over 84% of Sochi’s citizens support their city’s bid for the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Population. The population of Sochi is around 400,000 people. The surrounding, Krasnodar region, is home to 5.1 million people, and is the third largest Russian region.

Security and Experience. Sochi hosts more than 100 Category A VIP visits every year. Russia has successfully hosted more than 100 international sports events in the last 25 years, without one single security incident. Annually, Sochi hosts an average of more than 400 events, which draw over 1.5 million people.

Sports Heritage. Russia has hosted over 100 international sports championships and competitions in the past 25 years. Russian athletes have won over 270 medals in previous Olympic Winter Games.

Transport to the mountains. The Sochi 2014 transport plan features more than 140 km of Special Olympic Routes, which will be restricted to Olympic transport only and include exclusive Olympic Lanes between all venues. Two Olympic Routes to the mountains have a 14,000 vehicle capacity per day. Additionally, a 50 km light rail system will whisk 10,000 passengers per hour from the coast to the mountains in about 35 minutes.

Weather. The snow depth in the mountains averages above two meters, with low levels of fog. The temperatures average below zero Centigrade, but it is never extremely cold. Sochi offers the unprecedented combination of alpine and Mediterranean climates within a 50 kilometre radius..

print version