Abstract
The Olympic Games can provide major benefits for host cities, particularly in terms of international profile, increased visitor numbers, and improvements to the urban infrastructure and environment. This article outlines the selection procedures for choosing host cities and reviews the resulting international geography and locational patterns of the Summer Olympics across the period of the modern Olympiad. It identifies and discusses the bias towards Europe and North America. The article also examines the microgeography of the Olympics in terms of their urban impacts. The discussion identifies a range of infrastructural and environmental changes stimulated by hosting the Games and considers the relevance of these Olympic legacies for tourism in the longer term.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 185-200 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Pacific Tourism Review |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 3/4 |
| Publication status | Published - 1999 |