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For "all the concern over the Zika virus, pollution and economic instability, the biggest headache facing the Olympic business world right now is much more mundane: Rio traffic," according to Ben Fischer of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Travel agents, hospitality planners and marketing consultants predict that "the slow pace of surface transportation will emerge as a major theme of the Rio Games, affecting everything from athlete appearances to private meetings." GMR Marketing Global Sports & Entertainment Head Adam Lippard said, "If you’re working the business side of the Games, you’re going to have to be really thoughtful about how much you can get into a day." As a solution to the congestion, Lippard said that he is "trying to consolidate GMR clients’ events and meetings as close to their hotels as possible." Others "are spreading their internal teams out, assigning staffers to be embedded with clients or stay at certain locations full time." Octagon Brazil co-Managing Dir Aykan Azar said that for guests staring at multi-hour bus rides, the answer "is on-board entertainment." He said, "You can even turn one of these trips into a party. Whether it’s bringing in retired athletes or legends to travel with you, or do a Q&A session, there’s really smart and creative ways of turning what on the surface seems like a negative into a real positive." 21 Sports & Entertainment partner Tom Shepard said, "The idea of being able to run around the city and see numerous events in the same day is going to present a great challenge. I think you need to plan carefully around one or two events in a day and call it good" (
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/30 issue).
