Athens 2004 Games to Host A Million Visitors

One of the companies that will provide some of more than 112,000 lodging beds to visitors, Sportius Hospitality, signed the pertinent agreement last month with the responsible parties of the Athens Olympic Committee.

More than a million visitors are expected to flock to Athens to watch the action at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. According to the Athens 2004 committee, foreign visitors during the two weeks of the Games will total somewhere between 500,000 and 700,000. Another 300,000 are expected from throughout Greece, and that includes volunteers. Then there are the 65,000 members that are directly involved in the Games.

On a daily basis, says the committee, Athens will have to accommodate more than 200,000 visitors. It says that there will be at least 112,000 daily spectators from outside the country and a minimum of some 15,000 Greek visitors. It says some of the Greek visitors will come only for the day, while the Greek volunteers and others will most likely find accommodation at the homes of friends or relatives.

Once you add the Athenians to the equation, the committee believes that some 500,000 people will crowd the roads of Athens during the two-week period and the road network will be pressed to handle such a load of traffic.