Multi-award-winning footballer, Lionel Messi has today been announced as the first Global Ambassador for Dubai’s World Expo, taking on an international role as a champion for Expo 2020 Dubai.

Messi, who yesterday won the coveted Ballon D’Or for a record fifth time, is one of the most widely known footballers in the world. With over 80 million followers on social media, and recognition levels above 85%, by international survey respondents, he is one of the most influential players in modern football.

“Expos are all about focusing attention on issues of global interest and global concern to help imagine a better future,” said Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, Director General of Expo 2020. “What better way to do this than by recruiting allies among people who are already working towards better future outcomes?”

Expo 2020 is guided by the belief that innovation and progress are the result of people and ideas combining in new ways. Under the theme ‘Connecting Minds Creating the Future’, the international event aims to bring together hundreds of countries and millions of people to celebrate human ingenuity.

“Lionel Messi’s performances on the football pitch bring people together, and as a result his influence reaches far beyond it. He is the ideal person to be our first global ambassador. He overcame youthful health challenges to achieve his dreams of international excellence through hard work; making him an inspiration. He is perfectly placed to reach out to young people around the world, bringing them together to join us as we work towards hosting our World Expo in 2020 ” H.E. Al Hashimy explained.

Expo 2020 Global Ambassadors will be recruited from leading figures in the sports, arts, music, culture and media, as well as international thought leaders in the fields of architecture & design, science & technology, business, economics, education, philanthropy and sustainability.

Ambassadors will travel the world, talking to stakeholders to explore connections between their work and that of Expo 2020, along with potential opportunities for collaboration and engagement.

The organisers of Expo 2020 Dubai will be making further ambassadorial appointments over the coming months.

Source: https://expo2020dubai.ae

Dubai Expo 2020 has appointed Simon Clegg as Chief Operating Officer, the title he also held for the Baku 2015 European Games. 

As a speaker at Host City 2015 in November, Clegg shared his experiences of organising the inaugural European Games in Baku.

He led a team of 2,500 full time staff, supported by 12,000 volunteers, to deliver a mega event in an unprecedented compressed time frame and broadcast to an estimated 832 million households. 

This is the first time Clegg has been appointed to run a major non-sports event.

“I am very excited about joining the team at Expo 2020,” said Clegg.

“The vision and ambition of the project will make it a stunning experience for the expected 25 million visitors, 70% of whom will come from overseas.

“Within each country's pavilion visitors will be able to experience the rich diversity and culture that makes up our planet as well as seeing the latest technological developments around each of our chosen themes. 

“Dubai is already one of the world's greatest tourist destinations and its position will be further cemented through the hosting of this truly global event"

Clegg’s previous roles include managing Team GB at Beijing in 2008 – its most successful Olympic Games in a century – and leading the campaign to persuade the British government and Mayor of London to bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. He was subsequently appointed a board member of the London 2012 Olympic Games bid and Organising Committees.  

“I am delighted to have someone of Simon's caliber, leadership skills and considerable management experience of large global events join our team,” said Expo 2020 Director General and UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her Excellency Reem Al-Hashimy.

“His management and commercial skills will strengthen our team and help ensure the successful delivery of our 1,082 acre site. I look forward to working with him on this hugely important event for Dubai, the UAE and the entire region.”

To say that hosting a World or International Expo is a major undertaking would be an understatement of the biggest order. 

“Whether we are talking about an International Expo or a World Expo, these are three to six month events. They are not the three weeks of the Olympic Games or the four weeks of the World Cup,” Dimitri Kerkentzes, chief of staff at the International Expositions Bureau (BIE) told HOST CITY.

The World Expo Milan 2015, which is running from 1 May through to the end of October, covers a site of 100 hectares with 145 countries participating.

Exhibiting nations install themselves on an Expo site up to a year in advance to build their pavilions, which can take up to a year after the Expo to dismantle.

“Even in the case of a smaller International Expo, we are talking about hosting people for a minimum of six to eight months. So this is quite a feat.”

Emerging destinations

Undeterred by the scale of the project, cities from all over the world continue to vie for the hosting rights. The Kazakh capital Astana is hosting the 2017 International Expo, for which the Belgian city of Liege also applied. 

Hosting an event on this scale is a rare opportunity to reaching the global public.

“Whatever the major event is, whether it be cultural or sporting, it’s for them an opening up to the world.

“It’s the president’s point of view that Kazakhstan should be one of the world’s top 30 developed countries within the coming years. And this is an opportunity for them to show what they can accomplish and what they have accomplished.

“You’ve seen a lot of developing countries deciding that they want to invite the world to be present in their cities and it’s one of the best ways for them to achieve this.”

Dubai won the right to host the 2020 World Expo, rising above competition from Izmir in Turkey, Yekaterinburg in Russia and Sao Paulo in Brazil. 

Already an international city renowned for as a hub for business, Dubai sees the World Expo as an opportunity to project a new image to the world.

“They are a very particular case where a country, which is basically a desert country, has to be able to deal with modern infrastructure and living requirements – and this is one of the key points where they are trying to brand themselves with the Expo; it’s how not only are they a hub, but they are a sustainable hub.”

Dubai is aiming to attract at least 20 million visitors in 2020 but, says Kerkentzes, achieving this will requires about 70 per cent of visitors to come from overseas.

By way of contrast, the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai attracted 73 million visitors in six months, just seven to eight per cent of whom were overseas visitors. 

“The true meaning of an Expo is that the messages and the education is for the global public, not limited to one subsection of global citizens.

“And then you have to be realistic – there are certain Expos where you may have more foreign visitors than you do locals.”

Astana has less than a million inhabitants in a country with a population of around 18 million. “What we expect to see there is – apart from the usual Expo lovers that travel from all over the world – citizens of Kazakhstan and also the neighbouring countries.”

Who’s bidding for Expo 2025?

Milan is on course to hit its target of 20 million visitors and the event is attracting other global cities to bid for future Expos, Kerkentzes says.

“Proof of the fact that the World Expo is useful even in an economic powerhouse of a city like Milan is the fact that for 2025 we already have interest from Paris, from London, from Rotterdam, from Osaka and Johannesburg – so it shows that the case that Milan has been looked at by major European and world cities and they want to perhaps try and do the same themselves in 2025.”

The UK government has said that it will bid but has not yet said which city it will put forward to bid in 2016. The BIE has been contacted by several UK cities.

“The UK showed how good an Olympic Games could be for a city. London is one of the most famous capitals in the world, so why not try and brand other UK cities as well and use an Expo to do it? It’s very logical and it’s something the government will have to take into close consideration and make a final decision on next year.”

Similarly, other cities in France are interested in getting involved in an Expo bid. “It would have to be the government that would decide which would be the bidding cities.”

US cities such as Houston and Silicon Valley have also expressed an interest in hosting an Expo, but as the national government has not paid its BIE membership since 2001 it would need to be successfully lobbied before any bid could be lodged. 

“There is a very strong pressure from Minnesota to bid for Expo 2023 and they are working on trying to get the government to re-join the BIE,” says Kerkentzes.

The Canadian government also withdrew from the BIE in 2012. “Canada hosted many Expos in the past and has always participated in Expos. I know that there is very keen interest from the new Mayor to maybe bid for 2025, but he has to work on the internal politics on bringing Canada back.” 

The cities expressing an interest in hosting the 2025 World Expo are largely developed, western world cities.

“If you were to receive only developing cities or developing countries, people could criticise, saying Expos are no longer for developed countries and global cities like New York, London and Paris. There are always improvements that can be made in a city and I think an Expo can always help in that.”

Cities can submit a bid for a world Expo nine years before the proposed opening date of the next Expo. The BIE expects bids for 2025 to start arriving in the first and second quarter of 2016, with the voting for the event set to take place either at the end of 2017 or mid-2018. 

The bids will be judged on a number of criteria – not just the theme. 

“From the BIE, to ensure that Expos remain very high value for the candidates and the hosts, we have to make sure that there are positive impacts from all sides. 

“Theme is of course primordial in an Expo; it has to be something of global interest, but we have to make sure all the other points are properly looked at and taken care of.”

“The location is key as well, to make sure that people can get there, that it’s an interesting place to visit and that it can attract tourism that it requires.”

But just as the International Olympic Committee has increased its emphasis on the sustainability and legacy benefit of hosting the Games through its Agenda 2020 programme of reform, the BIE places great emphasis on how hosting an Expo can boost a city’s development plans.

“We have to make sure that the Expo can be of benefit to the host city, that it can help with its branding, it can help with its development – and that what will be left behind after the Expo will be of use to the city and to its citizens.

“I think it’s important to remember that the infrastructure that’s built around these events is not purely for the event itself; it’s infrastructure that's already foreseen in the development of the city and the country. And whether it’s an Expo, an Olympics or the World Cup, this is just a catalyst to get it done quicker. 

“Lessons have been learned. All the organisations responsible for these different mega events are putting them into action now and making sure that, no matter which type of event a city goes for, it will be of benefit to the world but also to the country and the city that’s hosting it.”

With this in mind, the potential rewards of hosting an Expo are great, Kerkentzes says.

“Usually you see from reports after an Expo that the participating countries found the investment has been well spent; that the amount of communication and branding for their own country abroad has helped growth in tourism and in sales.”

Dimitri Kerkentzes is to speak at HOST CITY 2015 on 9th and 10th November on the subject of “How Cities and Events Innovate to Thrive”. 

The European Union (EU) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday signed an agreement which enables Emiratis through Europe without applying for visas. 

Under the agreement, Emiratis can now stay in Schengen zone countries for 90 days in any 180-day period. 

The diplomatic breakthrough coincided with the first week of Expo Milan 2015, where the UAE has a national pavilion designed by Foster + Partners. Dubai is to host the next such “universal” World Expo in 2020. 

The UAE is the first Arab country to be granted free entry to the Schengen zone, which includes 26 European countries. 

“Our UAE citizens have the full right to feel proud of their leadership, which exerts every possible effort to take care of their welfare internally, as well as anywhere else in the world,” Sheikh Abdullah said.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs welcomed the agreement. “Our UAE citizens have the full right to feel proud of their leadership, which exerts every possible effort to take care of their welfare internally, as well as anywhere else in the world,” he said.

The agreement will be a boost to business tourism from the UAE.

“It will also allow our students more opportunity to know European universities better and choose whichever suits them best in the pursuit of their education,” said Sheikh Abdullah.

UAE citizens now have visa-free access to travel without a visa to Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

They will also be able to travel to eight non-Schengen countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania, the Vatican, Andorra, San Marino and Monaco.

Emiratis have since the start of 2014 been able to apply online for a visa waiver for travel to the UK.

Sheikh Abdullah also praised the UAE’s successful bid to host the 2019 International Energy Conference and Dubai winning the right to host the World Expo 2020. 

 Click here to see a list of countries that are in the Schengen area »

At its first meeting of the year, the Expo 2022 Dubai Higher Committee heard on Wednesday that preparations are well underway for hosting one of the world’s biggest events. 

The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman of Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee, president of Dubai of civil aviation and chairman and chief executive of Emirates airline and group. 

The committee discussed the development and final preparation of the Expo 2020 Dubai Registration Dossier, which it is due to present to the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE), the governing body of World Expos, later this year. 

The committee also heard a progress report on the Expo site and marketing and communications strategies.

 “There has been substantive progress on many fronts this year, both in the UAE and across the world,” said Reem Al Hashemi, UAE Minister of State, board representative of the Dubai Expo 2020 Higher Committee and director general, Bureau Dubai Expo 2020.

“We also plan to continue to build strong momentum throughout 2015 with a number of robust awareness engagements and collaborative initiatives that will collectively ensure we deliver an event worthy of the history of World Expos and that does justice to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the UAE.”

Expo 2020 Dubai launched a nationwide community engagement campaign earlier this month under the banner of ‘For Everyone’. 

The ‘For Everyone’ campaign, an awareness building and engaging series of public activities, will support the UAE and Expo 2020’s participation in the Expo Milano 2015, which takes place from 1 May to the end of October. 

The UAE’s country pavilion at Expo 2015 will focussing on the UAE’s efforts to address food and hunger issues while also promoting the theme of Expo 2020 Dubai, which is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”.

Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of the board of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee met last week with the Executive Committee of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) to give a status report on preparations for hosting the world’s largest exhibition. 

Al Tayer, who is also executive director of Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority, provided details of the Expo 2020 Dubai registration dossier, which will be submitted to the BIE during the summer of 2015.

“We continue to welcome the opportunity to share our 2015 plans with the BIE Executive Committee,” he said.

“Their insight, guidance and collaborative spirit is key to our ability to communicate our comprehensive strategies, capture best practices and prepare and execute essential milestones.”

The visit is part of a series of meetings required for Expo 2020 Dubai to achieve official registration. 

Dubai was selected as the host city of the 2020 World Expo by the BIE general assembly in November 2013. According to BIE regulations, any Expo project selected by the BIE general assembly must submit its application for registration to the Bureau at the least five years before the opening date. 

The Expo’s final registration is then granted by the BIE general assembly upon previous examination and approval of the dossier by competent committees.

Running from 20 October 2020 through 10 April 2021, the Expo will launch the country's Golden Jubilee celebration. With its theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future", it will serve as a springboard for a progressive and sustainable vision for the coming decades.

Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo in the Middle East, Africa and Southern Asia region.

On a visit to Dubai in March, BIE secretary general Vincente Loscertales said he was pleased with the progress made by the Expo Dubai 2020 and reiterated the BIE’s full support and commitment to ensure it is on course to present a global platform, address global challenges, and leverage the convening power of previous and upcoming Expos, including Expo Milano 2015.

At the meeting with the BIE last week, Al Tayer explained how Expo 2020 Dubai will be presented in the UAE Pavilion during the Expo 2015 Milan, which takes place from May to October 2015, as well as discussing ongoing national engagement activities.

“The submission of our Registration Document, our presence in Milan, and our national engagement activities are all part of our ongoing efforts to deliver on a truly inclusive and extraordinary Expo,” said Reem Bint Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State, Director-General of the Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau.

“We continue to appreciate the BIE process and the occasion to update the Executive Committee on our plans, which we are confident will lead to delivering a transformative World Expo.”

The BIE is the intergovernmental organisation responsible for overseeing the organisation of World and International Expos.

As anticipated by HOST CITY last year, a bid from Britain for the World Expo 2025 has been confirmed. 

The UK culture secretary Sajid Javid said the need to boost the business events sector is a major driver for bidding for the World Expo.

The government is currently speaking with tourism bodies and the business events sector to decide on a location to put forward as a candidate for the World Expo 2025.

“Britain is renowned for putting on some of the biggest events in world sport, following the success of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Javid said.

Since 2012, London has twice been voted the world’s “Ultimate Sports City”.

However, London stands only tenth in the International Congress and Convention Association’s global ranking of numbers of business events hosted. 

Paris, Madrid, Vienna, Barcelona and Berlin make up the top five cities for hosting business events. 

America, Germany, Spain and France all host more business conferences and events than the UK, despite the fact that hosting business conferences and events brings GB£39.1bn to the country.

The UK’s intention to bid was announced as the government published its “Business Visits and Events Strategy” that seeks to attract some of the biggest global fairs and conferences to the UK’s cities. 

“I want us to increase our standing in the business events world and host more major conferences that can help generate growth for our economy and create jobs,” said Javid.

“Bringing the World Expo to the UK in 2025 would be a major coup and give us another great opportunity to champion the best of Britain to the world.”

The UK’s candidate city will be competing for the Expo against world cities such as Paris, which announced its intention to bid last year.

After selecting a candidate city, the UK will need to produce a candidature file that demonstrates its technical capability to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).

Speaking at HOST CITY Bid to Win in October 2014, Dimitri Kerkentes, chief of staff at the BIE said: “We need to be able to be accountable, to say that when this project was approved to go forward to the voting stage we saw that you have the capacity to pull it off – whether it’s in four years’ time or nine months’ time – we saw that you have everything that’s technically required to host an Expo.”

The World Expo 2015 takes place in Milan from 1 May to 31 October. In 2020, Dubai will be hosting the World Expo. 

Bidding for and hosting a World Expo will again be a key topic of HOST CITY 2015, the largest meeting of cities and sports, business and cultural events.

Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) has appointed a consortium of CH2M HILL and Mace to deliver the Dubai Trade Centre Jebel Ali development, the site that will host Expo 2020 Dubai and act as focus for events beyond 2021.

In a rigorous procurement process, the joint venture of US firm CH2M HILL and UK-based Mace had to compete with other leading global firms with mega-event experience. 

In winning the tender, CH2M HILL-Mace is now responsible for providing full-service consultancy, real estate programme management, design, construction and operations management for the end-to-end development and delivery of Dubai Trade Centre Jebel Ali and the Expo 2020 Dubai site.

Dubai Trade Centre Jebel Ali development is the master district that will host Expo 2020 Dubai within a secure gated area from October 2020 until April 2021. 

"In CH2M HILL and Mace we have a proven partner that we feel confident will enable the delivery of a state-of-the-art home for Expo 2020 Dubai," said Ahmed Al Khatib, Director - Real Estate, DWTC. 

The site, designed by architectural firm HOK and engineering company Arup, contains precincts that are being programmed specifically for long term use beyond the Expo.

The Dubai Trade Centre Jebel Ali development is being planned as a new focal point of global business tourism for the region, reinforcing the UAE's established position as an international destination fostering thought leadership across key sectors for economic development and a business networking hub through trade fairs, mega-events and conferences.

The site is also being planned as an inclusive environment that inspires the region's young people while fostering cultural learning, cooperation, creativity and business.

The vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai is to create a smart destination for 'purposeful innovation', with a core focus on youth and culture to establish Dubai as a global city of the future.

“The success of the development is critically linked to its timely and efficient evolution to the planned legacy of Dubai Trade Centre Jebel Ali, and we look forward to seeing this partnership with CH2M HILL-Mace support DWTC and Dubai in fulfilling this long-term commitment,” said Al Khatib.

CH2M HILL-Mace have previously joined forces on several occasions in the sports and events industries, most recently for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

CH2M HILL has also played a strategic consulting role on Rio 2016. Mace is programme manager for the Qatar Public Works programmes and has provided strategic advice to the organising committee of Astana Expo 2017. 

Both companies have a strong presence in the Middle East. In the UAE they have independently delivered major private sector and government projects including Jumeirah Beach Residences, Mall of the Emirates, Business Bay Development, Media City, Silicon Oasis, the Abu Dhabi STEP Programme, ENEC Nuclear Programme and Masdar City.

"As a world leader in programme management, we will bring our track record of delivery excellence, sustainability and innovation to this programme, a benchmark for major events,” said Joseph Danko, senior vice president and operations director, urban programmes at CH2M HILL.

“We are excited to take on this amazing opportunity and contribute to the ever increasing global role of Dubai, its leadership and people."

HOST CITY: Having hosted the biggest and best event in the world in 2012, what type and scale of events is London aiming to host over the next 10 years? 

Iain Edmondson: We have secured a calendar of championships for Olympic sports, such as European Hockey 2015, World Track Cycling 2016 and the World Athletics 2017 in the permanent Olympic venues. 

And there’s the Rugby World Cup next year, which takes place in existing venues and the new assets we have, including the Olympic stadium. Complementing that are events where London provides the opportunity to globalise, like the NFL. 

What was once termed a decade of sport has now been rounded off with the announcement that the 2020 European football championships will be finishing here, with the semi-finals and finals. 

What we are doing now is to see how we can bring our reputation from sport and major events into the cultural content that we have. People visit London largely because it is a diverse city with great attractions in a number of different ways – not just museums and galleries but the performing arts that appeal to people throughout the year.

You see some great examples of light festivals in cities around the world in the winter. The idea of a London Light Festival is something that we are looking at seriously.

HOST CITY: How seriously are you considering a bid for the 2025 World Expo?

Iain Edmondson: Very seriously. Our experience of delivering major international events over the past decade means we now have the capability to evaluate the practicalities as well as potential benefits of hosting the biggest and the best, like a World Expo. 

Ten years or so ago we wouldn’t have had the same degree of understanding and intelligence to look at its potential to deliver our strategy and aims for London. We are better placed to consider whether or not the World Expo is right for the city and whether we want to enter the race. 

If you are going to host something of that scale you need certain infrastructure, so we have looked into that as well. We are looking at the assets in the city that we have now, like Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, what the situation might be for London in ten years’ time and how this might align with an Expo. 

The good thing is that the Mayor understands the power of major events and wants to hear recommendations as to whether we should bid or not.

HOST CITY: What do you think the owners of major events are most looking for in a host city?

Iain Edmondson: There are basic factors that you’ve got to be able to demonstrate, such as transport and security, but one the biggest is the ability to reach an audience. Rights holders are interested in the markets where the events are hosted. If you’ve got partners that are proactively investing in engaging with and marketing events, then that is appealing to rights owners.

HOST CITY: How can London compete with emerging markets in this space?

Iain Edmondson: We are one of the best in the world in terms of an event-going public, so there is an appetite to attend and physically spectate. We are also one of the best from a media perspective, to be able reach people who aren’t seeing an event in person, but through media channels and the press. 

Our challenge compared to some competitors is the ability to justify large sums of investment up front from public funds, because the business case for investing multi-millions in destination marketing for a city that is already established is different to a new city that needs to make a mark. 

But we are working with the Mayor and all the difference agencies in the city to demonstrate that you don’t necessarily need that. We can still work to provide a commercially successful event, without having a large cash downpayment where there isn’t necessarily an audience behind it. However, there are often other grounds for justifying public investment, such as the long term business benefits where London has proven to have invested wisely over the past decade.

HOST CITY: What do rights holders need to do make bidding more attractive to cities?

Iain Edmondson: Transparency is a must-have for public democratic processes where big money is open to scrutiny. We work in an environment where we expect to be asked awkward questions and justify the answers. 

If a bid process is open and transparent, you can choose to engage or not. It’s just a minimum requirement that everyone can see up front the basis on which they are making decisions. 

Another thing that is important is recognising the ability for rights holders to work in partnership with hosts. The city staffs the event and puts together commercial deals – they often become the people with the most invested in the success of it, so if the rights owner can work closely with the city and understand its aspirations for hosting it, it’s more often going to be a win-win on both sides. 

For example, the ASO are very well resourced; they have looked after the Tour de France for a hundred years. We’ve had some good experience of working with them in 2007 and 2014 and they understand what the host brings.

But some smaller federations often don’t have the capacity to do a lot of detailed planning. The more they can work together and align the events with the expectations of host cities, the better.

For more information about London’s event plans visit www.londonandpartners.com/events

As London’s City Hall weighs up whether to go head to head with Paris and bid for the 2025 World Expo, Tessa Jowell told HOST CITY that the benefit to the nation as a whole should be a key consideration of a bid.

The former Olympics minister Jowell was a major driving force behind London’s successful Games bid and is a popular contender to become the next mayor of London.

Asked whether she thought London should bid for the World Expo in 2025, Jowell told HOST CITY “It’s not a simple yes or no, but yes, we should certainly undertake the feasibility and be very clear about what the benefits are for London and the UK, beyond the duration of the Expo as an event in its own right.

“You look at every aspect of the development and you say ‘how can we spread the benefit; how can we make sure that businesses outside London know about the possibility of tendering for the contracts?’ 

London 2012 could set the template here, Jowell indicated. “We avoided displacement from the regions to London’s benefit by ensuring that nearly 50 per cent of the contracts were let to businesses around the country, and the whole country derived benefit.

“Before bidding for the Expo, London needs to ask ‘What’s the possibility of diffusing, dispersing events outside the host city?’

“The Olympics is very strict about that; you have to have a host city, but we were able to have training camps around the country, which gave a bit of Olympic excitement and Olympic magic right across the UK.

“It was a Games that was so true to the city that London is – the greatest city in the world, open, diverse, tolerant – that’s what the Games captured so beautifully, and I think that’s why not just Londoners but people from all around the UK took the Games to their hearts.”

Jowell played a crucial role in evaluating the feasibility of London’s Olympic bid and driving the bid forward. 

“My role was to turn my personal belief that this would be great for the country into a proposition that had credibility and could be sold to the whole cabinet, every department of government, all the key supporting organisation and then the chancellor of the exchequer and the prime minister,” she told HOST CITY.

“I set a number of tests against which the proposition could be judged. Was it affordable? Could we deliver it? Would there be a legacy? And could we win the bid against Paris, who was the other key contender at the time?”

President Francois Hollande announced Paris’s candidacy for the 2025 World Expo on 4th November, saying “France is capable of great events, major projects,” with French Prime minister Manuel Valls in October describing the World Expo as a “magnificent opportunity for the image of Paris and of France in the world.”

Mayoral race to follow general election

Dame Tessa Jowell confirmed to HOST CITY that she is seriously considering standing for the nomination as Labour’s candidate to be mayor of London after stepping down as MP at general election on 7 May. 

“Now is not the moment for a formal declaration because we have a general election to fight and I hope to win, and that’s what I am focussed on,” she told HOST CITY.

“I think you’ve got to take these things in their natural sequence. The general election is the biggest challenge facing us at the moment.”

A recent YouGov poll showed that Tessa Jowell would not only be the most popular candidate among Labour supporters, but also enjoy the strongest cross-party support.