Ten million tourists are expected in London for the 30th Olympiad from July 27 to August 12, 2012. That’s enough to make the candidate cities that weren’t chosen green with envy… However, as the British capital pulls out the stops to welcome its many visitors, its neighbors are preparing to get even!

First stage: hosting

As everyone knows, the competition for the Olympic Games starts well before the Games themselves. Indeed, in 2004, even before Constantinos Stephanopoulos, the Greek Republic’s President at the time, had officially declared the 28th Olympiad open, nine cities had already thrown themselves into the race to host the 2012 Games.

As early as the summer of 2005, that’s seven years before the 2012 Olympic torch was lit, we already knew that London was the big winner. Yet, this stage is by no means easiest part of the competition: the stakes are high and becoming a host city is a huge challenge with the promise of countless benefits.

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Tags: holiday, London, london olympics, Olympic Games, Travel, vacation