Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee President & CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko told SBD Global Sochi's hotel situation is meeting all IOC requirements. He said, "It’s worth noting that the IOC has required that 41,467 hotel rooms be available for participants and guests in the Sochi area, and Sochi 2014 is meeting this demand." The hotel situation has led to some worries at the various winter national governing bodies and sponsors as many of them have been unable to secure hotel rooms for next year's Winter Olympics. Sochi, located on the Black Sea coast, is one of the "largest and most famous summer resorts in Russia" with more than 4 million annual visitors. The construction process of turning this summer vacation destination into a winter-sports mecca is well underway, and Chernyshenko said "delegations from National Olympic Committees are guaranteed accommodation." He added, "Hotels for IOC members, international sports federation members and journalists are in walking distance to the venues." Chernyshenko also mentioned in the mountain cluster, which will host events such as alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh and ski jumping among others, "hotel complexes are being built." He said, "These hotels are operated under well-known international hotel brands: Radisson, Park Inn, Mercure, Heliopark and others. By 2014, room capacity will increase to 5,736 rooms." The city of Sochi, as a popular vacation place, already has a number of hotels operated by int'l hotel chains such as Kempinski, Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott, to mention a few. The transformation of Sochi into a winter-sports destination is taking shape as it welcomed "around 500,000 visitors" during the past winter season.
