Pan Am Games - Guadalajara - October 2011

The second largest city in Mexico is Guadalajara - our home is located 35 minutes south.  The Pan Am Games 2011 are being hosted in Guad this year.  Many of the watersport games will be held in our town on our Lake Chapala!  Anybody want to book a visit???

the acticle below is taken from a recent newspaper article outlining the events!
Enjoy.

 

The Pan American Games are Coming to Guadalajara in 2011!

The Pan American Games are the America continents version of the Olympics, with 42 countries competing in over forty sports. They are held every four years and take place the year prior to the Summer Olympics.
To get ready for this amazing event, there were many plans put in place for environmental initiatives to clean lakes, monitor drinking water, and revitalize the downtown.
Improvements include a new convention center, a Guadalajara-Puerto Vallarta highway, and a bypass for southern Guadalajara. The city will have 22,000 hotel rooms by October 2011, a new bus rapid transit system, Macrobus and the Centro Cultural Metropolitano...an ambitious project of the Universidad de Guadalajara, which includes a 10,000-seat performing arts auditorium (Auditorio Telmex) and the new public library of the state of Jalisco, among other buildings.
As a developing city, Guadalajara has a lot to gain in terms of promoting awareness of the city as a tourist or business location. Events of this magnitude present cities with an unprecedented opportunity to showcase themselves to a huge global audience. Hopes are that it will increase international trade in an already fast-growing economy and elevate the country’s standing in the same way the Tokyo Olympics did for Japan in 1964. Since Lake Chapala is sponsoring the water-skiing portion of the Pan Am Games, we look to benefit from the additional advertising and tourism coming to the area.
As one web site says, “Whenever a city hosts a major sporting event, the local economy is injected with a new lease of life. All major economic growth drivers get a boost due to infrastructure-related activities and tourism ahead of and during the event. Tourism is one industry which specifically benefits from any sporting event. Athletic teams, their entourage, world press and spectators all help in increasing the inflow of tourists. Also, due to huge amount of press exposure, a buzz and awareness is created about the city which helps in attracting the tourism in no small way.”
This international publicity will showcase the host country and will help attract a large number of international tourists, “largely in the upper income group of tourists and sport fans.” The Pan-American Games are a tremendous opportunity for Guadalajara and its surrounding communities to show off our stuff to the world.
We have no doubt that Lake Chapala will get incredible press because of the number of American and Canadian retirees and expatriates who call the area their permanent home. The media will transform Lake Chapala into a living postcard for the whole world to see.
“The post-PanAm Game awareness is something that money can't buy.” The media hype will certainly attract people coming here to take vacations. And, we firmly believe that once these people see Lake Chapala, they are going to want to live here.
The 16th edition of Pan-American games…the biggest multisport event in Latin America…will be hosted by Guadalajara, Mexico, from October 14 to 30, 2011.  More that 5,700 athletes from 42 countries across the U.S.A., Canada and the Caribbean will be competing in Guadalajara in 40 different sports that will range from aquatics, to football, racquetball, equestrian events, etc., in 361 competitions.
In Lake Chapala, the excitement is mounting, because the water skiing events will take place in the Boca Laguna Sky Club, which is located in the Km 4.5 of the highway that goes from Chapala to Mezcala, from October 20 to 23.
The Pan American Village will have 650 apartments, two parking lots and almost 65% of the area will be green areas.
By April, this Village and all the sports venues will be finished and 32 of the best construction companies in Mexico have been working on this.
Facts

• 27 Venues total:  15 venues been built, 7 already existed and 5 are temporary plus 4 additional venues.
• More that 12 thousand volunteers will be required for this event.
• The Pan American Games will be seen in 100 countries around the world by more that one thousand million people. 

There will be 40 Different Sports:

1. Archery
2. Artistic Gymnastics
3. Athletics
4. Badminton
5. Baseball
6. Basketball
7. Basque Pelota
8. Bowling
9. Boxing
10. Canoeing
11. Cycling
12. Diving
13. Equestrian
14. Fencing
15. Handball
16. Hockey
17. Judo
18. Karate
19. Pentathlon
20. Racquetball
21. Rhythmic Gymnastics
22. Roller Skating
23. Rowing
24. Rugby
25. Sailing
26. Shooting
27. Softball
28. Squash
29. Swimming
30. Synchronized Swimming
31. Table Tennis
32. Taekwondo
33. Tennis
34. Trampoline Gymnastics
35. Triathlon
36. Volleyball
37. Waterpolo
38. Waterski
39. Weightlifting
40. Wrestling

About Guadalajara:

Guadalajara is the capital of the state of Jalisco.  The city is located in the western part of the Mexican Republic, in Jalisco's central region.
Guadalajara was founded in 1542 and was permanently incorporated into the Atemajac Valley more than 464 years ago.  Pride and majesty, magic and beauty, are the attributes that blend harmoniously with the unstoppable progress of a city ahead of its time; a cradle of traditions that combines its colonial architecture, its culture and folklore, to become one the most recognizable symbols of Mexican culture worldwide.
Besides being recognized as one of Mexico's most influential cultural, industrial, and economic powerhouses, Guadalajara is world-renowned for its traditions and for its artistic, cultural, and recreational attractions.
Boasting a privileged geographical location, Guadalajara is at the center of the most important activities in business, industry, the economy, culture and sports.  As a result, the city is a key player in world-class events, and has been confirmed as a great host in such events as the First Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, which took place in 1991, as well as the Third Latin American, Caribbean, and European Union Summit in 2004.

Viva Mexico!!