Part 2 - LA84 Foundation

536
19. Olympic Village
19.4
Check-in and Check-out
Control
19.4.1
Overview
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A total of 14,501 people from 160
nations participating in the Games
stayed in the main Olympic Village in
Seoul and sub-villages.
The Olympic Village in Seoul was
initially scheduled to open after its
opening ceremonies of September 3
following an open house for the media
on September 1, but athletes began
arriving earlier than expected.
The first group of 17 people arrived
from France at 10 a.m. September 1,
and 193 people from 17 NOCs
including Bulgaria, Ireland and British
Virgin Islands arrived on the same day
and entered the village. With one
week to go before the Games commenced,
some 10,000 people had
entered the village, more than 1,000
athletes and officials every day. On the
12th day alone, 2,198 people entered
the village, the record number in a
single day. The last to check in were
Burma and Libya on September 20.
Village check-out began September
23, with 5,491 people leaving October
3, a day after the Games ended, and
2,396 more people leaving October 4.
The village closing ceremony was held
October 5, but it was formally closed
after 163 people who stayed one extra
night left on the 6th. The Olympic
Village, thus, actually operated for 36
days.
19.4.2
Check-in and Check-out
Procedures
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Eligibility to stay at the Olympic Village
is limited to participating athletes,
officials and accompanying designees
as stated in the Olympic Charter Rules
36 and 37, but entry permits for extra
officials were also issued at the Seoul
Games.
Permits were issued to Category B
(chef de mission), C (assistant chef de
mission), F (athletes) and FO (officials)
as regulated in the Olympic Charter,
and to NOC-related personnel and
attaches. Some 900 extra officials were
accommodated at the Olympic Village
in this way, and they lodged separately
in three apartment buildings
inside the village.
Athletes and officials registered after
their arrival at the village and were
given AD cards. AD cards were issued
after payment of village accommodation
fee was confirmed, and only
the card holders were allowed entry
and lodging at the village.
An accreditation officer was dispatched
to handle AD card issuance
to athletes and officials on site at the
Olympic Village.
A 2,393-square-meter Accreditation
Center was established for a speedy
entry arrangement, and a 371-squaremeter
waiting room was set up on the
first floor of Seryun Elementary School
next to the Olympic Village to greet
arriving athletes and officials.
Delegations took a brief rest before
being led to the Accreditation Center.
A separate reception room was put
into operation inside the AC for
consultations with team delegation.
AD card distribution, supervised by
the Accreditation Department, athlete
participation application, handled by
the Sports Operation Department,
payment of village accommodation
fee and all other procedures were
managed in one place with cooperation
from related departments.
The Olympic Village Headquarters
provided an information desk, lobby
and snack corner. It also provided
various other services such as flower
presentation to delegates, giving
badges to chef de mission and other
greeting activities, as well as guidance
to village residences and luggage
service.
Groups were organized to run the
Accreditation Center round the clock,
constantly checking and gathering
preliminary information on village
arrival and departure schedules of
delegates.
The center closely examined
questionnaires collected by the
Olympic Village Department and made
advance preparations for village entry
by running a continuous check on
arrivals of athletes and officials at
airports and seaports through information
provided by the Protocol
Department, estimating the number of
village entrants and required food
services, planning ahead lodging
maintenance, welcoming activities
and operation of manpower. The
information network involved immediate
notification of village checkin/check-out
to the Situation Room
which then transmitted the information
to related departments.
Duties were sometimes increased
because of frequent information
requests by delegation management,
transportation and security offices.
The delegation signature system was
extremely successful. It was realistically
difficult for Chef de Mission to
take full charge of all duties amidst
tight and busy official activities. It was,
therefore, much more convenient for
the Village Department to know who
was in charge of what other than Chef
de Mission, and there were situations
where the delegation itself needed the
designation of a person in charge of
different affairs. The Olympic Village
Headquarters had recommended to
the delegation during village entry
procedures to designate heads of
each duty (transportation,
accommodation fees, appointing
representatives, etc.) for smooth
management. The system proved to
be efficient and received a favorable
evaluation.
19.4.3
Village Fee
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The Village fee refers to accommodation
fees and other expenses
charged to delegation for various
services provided by the Olympic
Village. Expenses included horse feed
and bedding fee, rental fee for
additionally requested materials,
service fee for accreditation, and
compensation for property loss and
damage.
Accommodation fee was charged in
units of one person per one day:
US$42 for athletes and officials of
official sports, US$65 for those of
demonstration sports. Remittance
currency was unified to the U.S. dollar,
and the charge system ran according
to the size of each delegation.
Payment methods were limited to T.T.,
cash and travelers checks (TC).
Accommodation fees were to be
forwarded during the two months prior
to the village opening (June 1 -July 31,
1988) for 20 days' fee for the estimated
for 20 days' fee for the estimated
number of village residents.
Village entry and departure dates were
calculated as a single day, and the
rate was uniform for sub-villages and
the main Olympic Village. Account
settlement was handled solely at the
Olympic Village, two days before the
delegations were to leave the village.
Accommodation fees for equestrian
teams were transmitted by facsimile
by the residence officer in the
Kwachon Sub-Village.
Those who received access privilege
(R) from the Accreditation Center were
subject to accommodation fees even
though they lodged outside the
village, and NOC-related officials
(NOC president, secretary-general,
each entourage) who received AD
cards from Headquarters Hotel
accreditation center were also
charged with accommodation fees if
their pass was marked with a red
sticker for meal services. People who
stayed in other lodging quarters such
as the Olympic Family Town apartments
because of residence overflow
or allotment problems were exempted
after separate lodging payment was
confirmed.
Records of account settlement
showed 14,501 people from 160
countries paid a total of US$12,523
million. Fees were charged to 13,086
athletes and officials for official sports,
489 athletes and officials for demonstration
sports, and 926 extra officials.
The payment amount mentioned
above included US$1,044,960
provided by the IOC as subsidies to
participating NOCs. Each NOC with
up to eight participants received
US$800 per person from the IOC.
NOCs with less than eight participants
received subsidy for actual number of
Games delegates while only two
officials were eligible for subsidy
regardless of delegation size.