2020 Tokyo Olympics

The Olympics being postponed will be a major loss for Japan. When cities or countries get to host the Olympics it is a big deal. It means a bunch of tourists and athletes will be flooding the streets. This also means preparation for this big change. There is a lot of money involved when it comes to hosting the Olympics. Cities are usually able to make some of it back but not all of it. For Japan, this might not be the case.

The 2020 summer Olympics were going to be hosted by Japan. They started preparing for it and investing a lot of money. Before the Olympics could officially start, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everything was thrown out of order. Currently, the Olympics are scheduled to happen in July but officials from Japan are unsure if they are going to go through because of a rise in COVID cases.
This would mean a huge loss for Japan. They have spent around $15 billion dollars on this event. The most ever spent on the summer Olympics. Some even claim that they have spent more than they are leading on. About $2.4 billion of that money has been spent on COVID delays and they are planning to spend $900 million to prevent COVID spread at the games. Either way, that is a lot of money to spend only to make almost none of it back.

The tourism industry took a dive in 2020. With people unable to travel, some businesses that normally rely on tourists are in trouble. The Olympics would be a chance for them to make some money. The Olympics might normally be a loss for the city but businesses in the area typically make quite a bit of money from the new people. If the Olympics were cancelled not only would the city lose money but local businesses that counted on those tourists could lose money.

Japan is doing what it can to keep the games going. They have a lot at stake. But they also worry about the health and safety of the people there. Not very many Olympics have been cancelled. The ones that have are usually during war time. But a lot of people would understand Tokyo’s decision to cancel the games. Especially if the number of cases is already high. It will be a hard decision and one that some will not approve of either way. Hopefully, Japan will come to a fair conclusion.