The transformation that the Olympic and Paralympic Games bring to a city reaches far beyond sport. With this in mind, the Rio de Janeiro Candidature Committee to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are giving a series of lectures to the same young people who, in eight years time, may well be working in the largest sporting event on the planet.

Ricardo Trade, General Manager of Games Services for Rio 2016, today gave a presentation about the details of the project to about 70 students and course teachers in Tourism and Hotel Management at Univercidade, the largest university center in Brazil.

Trade detailed the main points of the Rio 2016 project, with emphasis on accommodation and hospitality. Solutions to provide the Olympic family and visitors to the Games with high quality accommodation include the use of hotels and cruise ships, as well as the construction of villages for athletes, the media and officials which will provide an important legacy for the city.

"The Rio de Janeiro accommodation project is an opportunity for transformation with significant legacies: social inclusion, the regeneration of the port and the promotion of tourism. It will be a model for other cities that, to host the Olympic Games, need to add infrastructure to augment existent accommodation,” explained Trade.

Examples of previous Olympic and Paralympic Games highlight the importance of the event for the Hotel and Tourism sector. Trade gave as an example the regeneration of Barcelona which after the Olympic Games in 1992 became a major tourist center in Europe. The growth in importance of Sydney was also highlighted, which after the 2000 Games has become the leading city in the world for conferences.

 In the debate that followed the lecture wide interest in the Rio 2016 project meant that questions were not restricted to hotel and tourism; and issues such as transport, security and finance were also discussed.

"This lecture was very important. The theme is interesting for the course, but it also involves politics, economics and social inclusion. Today we are students, but in 2016 we will be active in the labor market and, perhaps, responsible for many of the themes addressed. Brazil has shown that it is able to hold an event like the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Everything must be done in planning for a future where everyone can participate in the benefits generated," said Michel Nicolay, 20, a student of Hotel Management.