Accommodation is not only a matter of securing the necessary numbers of rooms for the different stakeholder groups, but also of creating the best possible living and working conditions for each person involved.

It is also key that the LOC offers accommodation at a reasonable price, not exceeding online offers. Otherwise, the risk could be to have participants booking their accommodation outside the Event Management System despite the provision of rooms secured by the LOC.

Stakeholders to be considered within the accommodation plan are:

  • Teams (athletes, officials, medical personnel) – both in and out of quota numbers to be accommodated
  • Personal coaches
  • VIPs (European Athletics Family, International Guests, Sponsors’ Guests, LOC guests)
  • European Athletics officiating persons (Technical Delegates, ITOs, Walking Judges, International Starter, Photo Finish Judge, etc.)
  • Media (Press & Photographers) & International Broadcasters
  • Technical Partners (Timing, Data processing, Signage company, Host broadcaster)
  • National officials and volunteers (when not resident in the host city)
  • LOC staff
  • Young Leaders Forum participants (if relevant)

All the individuals need places to stay and, for several of the categories, also working facilities within the accommodation venues.

It is recommended that the proposed official hotels are actually experienced after the first site visit of European Athletics’ representatives and Delegates. This gives a direct feedback to both the LOC and European Athletics.

The LOC should plan to have two different accommodation deadlines for VIPs and Media: one official deadline that is communicated, and one internal deadline (a few days later) to have some time to make sure the number of rooms to be released is correct.

Accommodation Plan

The work on the accommodation plan must have begun in the bidding phase, as information on the proposed official hotels, and prices to be charged, must be included in the Bid documentation. For these reasons it is advisable, particularly for major events, to have the support of a hotel association or experienced travel agency. However, the management of hotel bookings, invoicing, etc. shall be made through the European Athletics Event Management System.

The accommodation plan should include the different items listed in the accommodation guideline and template document.

Negotiations with each hotel are usually needed in order to be flexible and meet each group’s needs. 

A date for the completion of the accommodation plan will be set in the event Organiser Agreement. The plan must include implementation milestones that can be monitored by the LOC and European Athletics.

European Athletics has prepared a template for the Accommodation Plan in order to facilitate both the LOC and European Athletics. This template includes all requirements needed to complete the plan and it can be found in the corresponding Accommodation annexes.

Because of the importance of providing specific information to the main categories needing accommodation, they are treated as separate sub-chapters in the following paragraphs.

Team Accommodation

Teams usually comprise the largest group of stakeholders and their accommodation involves very specific requirements. The athletes are at the heart of the event and deserve special consideration.

The hotels allocated to the teams should be located near the training venues as well as parks or green areas, which provide alternative training areas. The distances to and from the competition venues should be within reasonable travel times. An effort must be made to locate all team hotels as near to each other as possible as this will assist the coordination of services and management.

The required numbers of rooms can be confirmed only after receiving the final entries; these figures are binding on the teams’ costs for their final invoices.

When planning the distribution of the teams between the hotels, please be aware that a single team must never be divided between two hotels. When planning the rooming list of a team within an hotel, the LOC should use the team’s rooming list and ask for approval in case of changes made by the LOC.

All Team Hotels should provide the following facilities and services:

  • Information desk (event specific information, city related information, etc.)
  • Physiotherapy rooms (according to the number and needs of each team)
  • Team meeting rooms (according to the number and needs of each team)
  • Ice machines (must be available)
  • Recreational areas
  • Wi-Fi internet (free of charge, mandatory for ECH, EICH, EXCH, ETCH SL, EU18CH, EU20CH, EU23CH)
  • Doping control room (according to European Athletics Doping Control Delegate direction)
  • Water supply
  • Storage room (Information desk material, water, etc.)

The LOC must also offer, free of charge, physiotherapy and medical services; if not in each hotel then in a convenient and easy reachable location.

More details shall be found in the European Athletics Team Services Guidelines and within the accommodation plan. This document needs to be compiled according to the template that European Athletics will provide to the LOC.

Media Accommodation

Depending on the size of the European Athletics event, the number of media representatives attending can be large and the statistics from similar past events will enable the LOC to plan accurately. European Athletics Media Department can provide these statistics.

Media representatives normally work long working hours and appreciate their accommodation being in close proximity to the competition venues and the media working facilities (MPC & IBC mainly). Transport between the Hotels and these venues needs to be planned carefully and shared with European Athletics Event Department.

The locations, price ranges and services offered by the hotels (e.g. free internet access) are crucial elements to encourage media representatives to stay in the official hotels, as is the availability of official transportation. The LOC must strive to offer the best possible accommodation options.

Depending on the size of the event, the LOC must also endeavour to arrange working areas and, at the least, an information desk in each media hotel.

The Media Guidelines give further details on this subject. Please consult them when preparing the accommodation plan.

VIP Accommodation

For VIP guests, comprising mainly the European Athletics family, the location and services offered by the official hotel are decisive elements when selecting the best option(s). VIP guests often like to combine attendance at the event with cultural activities in the host city and, therefore, a central location and/or efficient public transport to the centre of the city are priorities.

As well as location, the price ranges and quality of services offered by the hotel (e.g. swimming pool, gym, wellness areas), together with well organised transportation to and from venues, are important considerations that will encourage VIPs to stay in the official hotels.

The official VIP Hotel is normally also the headquarters of European Athletics during the pre-event and event phases. Therefore, offices and meeting rooms for European Athletics staff and the LOC are required as these are needed to provide the VIP guests with accreditation, event and city information, etc. The LOC’s own relevant staff will also need to be based at the VIP Hotel (Information Desk, VIP accreditation centre, etc.)

Within the Organiser Agreement of each European Athletics event the specific needs for VIP accommodation and which of the related costs are to be covered by the LOC are specified. Please refer to this document and liaise with the European Athletics Event Department if anything is unclear.

Technical Partners’ Accommodation

The Technical partners of European Athletics service the event with know-how in specific fields. These groups (Timing & Data processing company, signage company, event management system/accreditation company) arrive early in the pre-event phase in order to set-up and install all required systems, devices and facilities.

This group also has long working hours and therefore the proximity of their hotels to the competition venues is of great importance. The transport schedule must be prepared and adapted by the LOC according to their specific needs.

Both the Organiser Agreement and the Technical Partner’s Manual give more details about these matters.