NEXT year’s NatWest Island Games in Aland are set to be the most expensive yet for Guernsey’s competitors.
Roughly 290 of the island’s sportsmen and women are expected to attend the week-long biennial event, which is being held in the Baltic island from 26 June to 4 July 2009.
It is estimated that the travel and accommodation will cost up to £900, which is significantly up on the last two Games in Rhodes and the Shetland Islands.
That could see the number of participants from the island drop dramatically.
The Guernsey Island Games Association’s head of travel and accommodation, Jeff Vidamour (pictured), declined to comment yesterday on the costs, saying, ‘It’s yet to be finalised’.
Things do not look to get any cheaper when in Aland, which is a Swedish-speaking province of Finland.
The litmus test for the cost of living, the average price of a pint, is £4.21 in Scandinavia while a loaf of bread is around £1.59.
But what looks set to be better than the previous Games is Guernsey’s travel arrangements.
To get to Rhodes in 2007, the island’s competitors had to take a ferry to St Malo where they boarded coaches for a two-hour journey to Nantes Airport.
A chartered plane then flew the team to the eastern Mediterranean island.
In all, the journey took a gruelling 16 hours that did not see the Guernsey squad check into their hotel until late into the night – not ideal preparation.
However, for the 2009 Games, it looks as if two chartered flights will take the Sarnians from Guernsey Airport direct to Aland.
Vidamour said he expected to verify this by the end of the week.
‘Nothing is confirmed on that,’ he said.
‘There seems to be a real shortage of aircraft. We’re negotiating with various parties.’
Vidamour did confirm that, unlike Rhodes and Shetland, the Guernsey squad will not be staying in one hotel.
It is understood that the athletics team are in a hotel in the main town of Mariehamm while the men’s football squad will be in holiday cottages elsewhere in the island.ascoones@guernsey-press.com
Article posted on 3rd December, 2008 - 2.30pm
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