A visit to the Italian National Olympic Committee’s (CONI) ‘Casa
Italia’ at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (QEIICC) in
Westminster is like entering a ‘Little Italy’ right here in London.
Surrounded by Italians, Italian branding, merchandise and flags it is
not hard to get caught up in the excitement of the Olympics, Italian
style.
The Italian reception area is covered in Olympic posters,
sponsor branding and pictures of Italian landmarks, while a large
screen has been installed to broadcast live Olympic events allowing
visitors to keep up to date on which athlete has won the latest Gold, or
who’s missed out on a medal.
CONI have taken over the entire
site and are expecting between 500-800 visitors a day in the public
area, and 400 per day for private entertaining.
Although CONI
have allocated a larger area for their private spaces, members of the
public can visit the sponsor rooms, which include brands such as
P&G, Kinder and Samsung, and the official merchandise store in the
Pickwick Suite which is selling replica Armani EA7sports kit, although
do beware of the eye-watering prices.
Other areas include an
exhibition of the ‘Regions of Italy’, and an art exhibition on the fifth
floor displaying Italian art in categories such as ‘sea’, ‘new walls’
and ‘together.’
According to Commercial Director at the QEIICC,
Sue Etherington, CONI had originally planned to give the fifth floor
area over to Rome, who were bidding for the 2020 Olympic Games, and had
ideas of using the front lawn for the art exhibition. However, once Rome
pulled out of the bid process and didn’t need the fifth floor space,
CONI decided to take the exhibit inside.
In terms of private
spaces, an Italian Restaurant has been set up on the third floor, with a
nightclub on the top floor. Although the public is not permitted to
take a peek at these spaces, I was assured the nightclub was ‘buzzing’
last Saturday night. Concerts also take place in the evenings on the
ground floor, a space that during the day hosts medal ceremony
presentations (dependent on when medals are won obviously).
According
to Etherington, the QEIICC was involved in ‘four or five’ bid ’national
house’ processes with countries including France, the Netherlands and
Switzerland. The London Media Centre (LMC) was also reportedly keen on
the venue, however the centre’s main strategy was that the whole
building should be used and LMC was only keen to take one floor.
Etherington
revealed that the one major sticking point that came up in most
negotiations was the Olympic committee’s desire to fully tender the
catering. The QEIICC offered CONI a buyout option and in the end they
decided to bring over their own Italian chefs and catering company.
The
centre will continue to host Italy during the Paralympics, however they
are not expecting any areas open to the public. CONI’s Paralympic sister organisation, Comitato Italiano Paraympico, will take up
residence on the top two floors with areas for entertainment,
hospitality, sponsors and medal ceremonies during the Paralympic Games.
Once
you get past the warm inside temperature (the Italians found the air
conditioning too cold in their first few days and requested it be turned
up), the QEIICC is definitely worth a visit to experience the buzz and
excitement of the Olympics from an Italian perspective. Prego!
Any comments? Email zvernor@mashmedia.net
