Earlier this week we held a very well-attended, high profile press conference at the Embassy at which the
Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap (MTVA) – the official Hungarian media sports TV/radio organisation spoke about the London 2012 Olympics and all the international sporting events leading up to the Games in which Hungary is involved. Agnes Cserhati moderated. Television has enormous power when it comes to influencing tourists to visit a location. Together, films and TV programmes depicting the UK are responsible for attracting about one in ten overseas visitors, spending around £1.8 billion a year. So it is a mutually rewarding opportunity for us to tap into the Hungarian interest in sport, backed by their huge Olympic success over the years.
The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games add up to one of the most powerful TV tourism opportunities of recent times. The Olympic Games are not only the biggest event in the world, they are also the single biggest opportunity for one city and one country to gain media exposure worth billions of pounds. And they give the host country exposure in every newspaper in every country on Earth over a six-week period. The Hungarian public service media will cover the whole of the Olympic/Paralympic Games, with 100 staff involved.
Aside from Géza Riskó, Editor in chief of Sports for MTVA and László Szabó, the Communications Director for MTVA, our speakers at the press conference included István “Kokó” Kovács, the former Olympic champion boxer, who will present the TV coverage of the Olympics in Hungary; and Dóra Pásztory, the Paralympic, World and European champion swimmer and László Fábián, the former Olympic Pentathlon champion, both of them lined up to do the radio coverage. Special guests included László Cseh, the World and European champion swimmer, 3 times an Olympic silver medalist; Zoltán Kósz, the former Olympic Waterpolo champion; and Botond Storcz, 3 times Olympic kayak champion and now coach of the Hungarian kayak team. Pretty star-studded.
Given the level of excitement already generated, it is hard to accept that we have to wait another year for the Games themselves – the greatest show on earth!