KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 (Reuters) - Awarding Australia's Gold Coast the right to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games would help the event recover the ground lost after last year's chaotic Delhi event, bid CEO Mark Peters told Reuters on Wednesday.
Peters was speaking after the Gold Coast handed over its bid book to Commonwealth Games officials in Kuala Lumpur and delivered a presentation focusing on the region's existing facilities and popularity as a tourism destination.
Gold Coast is competing against an ambitious bid from the Sri Lankan port-city of Hambantota, which is banking on its huge redevelopment work being enough to convince officials to give the south Asian island the event for the first time [ID:nL3E7GB20M].
"Australians love the Games and for us it is a very important part of our sports system," Peters told Reuters in the Malaysian capital.
"It's not about who deserves to get them, it's about who can run a good Games, who can actually recover a little bit of the lost ground from Delhi."
Pictures of dirty rooms in the athletes' village and a collapsed bridge by the main stadium remain the overriding images of October's Delhi Games despite a late push by organisers to ensure the events ran smoothly.
Many top athletes such as Jamaica's multiple Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt skipped the Games because the timing did not fit their schedules, while other athletes stayed away because of security concerns which proved unfounded.
"They (the athletes) want a bit of excitement about where they come and if we are truly about the friendly games that's what the destination should be up to," Peters said after announcing they would stage the Games in April.
"If your home country knows your athletes are going to be successful then there is a certain enthusiasm for the Games and we want to make sure that territories and Commonwealth nations do actually send their best athletes and do have a great time."
ALL PERFECT
Peters was confident the region had strong backing from private Australian companies to host the event -- held every four years for more than 70 countries mostly of the former British Empire.
"Just as our Australian population loves the Games, our companies have supported the Games as well," he said.
"(2006 hosts) Melbourne ran at a profit, it's a well-learned fact, and we have learnt so much from Melbourne and there is a lot of that expertise available in Australia that we will be utilising if we win the Games.
"We are confident that the corporate sector will also rally and a lot of our big companies like (mining firm) Rio Tinto will be in a lot of the Commonwealth countries so we see a lot of benefits and we think there will be a good revenue generated to go with the costs of running the Games."
Peters explained that the region, which welcomes more than 11 million tourists a year, was keen to use the Games to help develop the area further.
"Gold Coast is a major regional town and very much had an economy based on tourism," he said.
"It's looking to diversify its base so by bringing the Games we will see more investment in transport, infrastructure and roads etc which will just enhance what we have."
Should the Gold Coast be successful with its bid it would mean Australia hosting the event for the fifth time with Hambantota arguing the event should go to new territories instead.
"Last time we looked Hambantota was part of Asia who hosted the Games in 1998 (Malaysia) and again in 2010 (India)," Peters quipped with a smile.
Peters' thoughts were echoed by Gold Coast mayor and former Commonwealth Games medal-winning middle-distance runner Ron Clarke.
"We don't have to build much more, Sri Lanka is really, sort of 'trust me we are going to build all this' but there is nothing there," Clarke told Reuters before flying back to Australia,
"Our location and people and enthusiasm and size is all perfect so I can't see how we can miss if it's just through a judgment. If there are other things that come into it, well then."
Peters was speaking after the Gold Coast handed over its bid book to Commonwealth Games officials in Kuala Lumpur and delivered a presentation focusing on the region's existing facilities and popularity as a tourism destination.
Gold Coast is competing against an ambitious bid from the Sri Lankan port-city of Hambantota, which is banking on its huge redevelopment work being enough to convince officials to give the south Asian island the event for the first time [ID:nL3E7GB20M].
"Australians love the Games and for us it is a very important part of our sports system," Peters told Reuters in the Malaysian capital.
"It's not about who deserves to get them, it's about who can run a good Games, who can actually recover a little bit of the lost ground from Delhi."
Pictures of dirty rooms in the athletes' village and a collapsed bridge by the main stadium remain the overriding images of October's Delhi Games despite a late push by organisers to ensure the events ran smoothly.
Many top athletes such as Jamaica's multiple Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt skipped the Games because the timing did not fit their schedules, while other athletes stayed away because of security concerns which proved unfounded.
"They (the athletes) want a bit of excitement about where they come and if we are truly about the friendly games that's what the destination should be up to," Peters said after announcing they would stage the Games in April.
"If your home country knows your athletes are going to be successful then there is a certain enthusiasm for the Games and we want to make sure that territories and Commonwealth nations do actually send their best athletes and do have a great time."
ALL PERFECT
Peters was confident the region had strong backing from private Australian companies to host the event -- held every four years for more than 70 countries mostly of the former British Empire.
"Just as our Australian population loves the Games, our companies have supported the Games as well," he said.
"(2006 hosts) Melbourne ran at a profit, it's a well-learned fact, and we have learnt so much from Melbourne and there is a lot of that expertise available in Australia that we will be utilising if we win the Games.
"We are confident that the corporate sector will also rally and a lot of our big companies like (mining firm) Rio Tinto will be in a lot of the Commonwealth countries so we see a lot of benefits and we think there will be a good revenue generated to go with the costs of running the Games."
Peters explained that the region, which welcomes more than 11 million tourists a year, was keen to use the Games to help develop the area further.
"Gold Coast is a major regional town and very much had an economy based on tourism," he said.
"It's looking to diversify its base so by bringing the Games we will see more investment in transport, infrastructure and roads etc which will just enhance what we have."
Should the Gold Coast be successful with its bid it would mean Australia hosting the event for the fifth time with Hambantota arguing the event should go to new territories instead.
"Last time we looked Hambantota was part of Asia who hosted the Games in 1998 (Malaysia) and again in 2010 (India)," Peters quipped with a smile.
Peters' thoughts were echoed by Gold Coast mayor and former Commonwealth Games medal-winning middle-distance runner Ron Clarke.
"We don't have to build much more, Sri Lanka is really, sort of 'trust me we are going to build all this' but there is nothing there," Clarke told Reuters before flying back to Australia,
"Our location and people and enthusiasm and size is all perfect so I can't see how we can miss if it's just through a judgment. If there are other things that come into it, well then."
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