Milan-Cortina Olympics: 78 per cent of Italians approve of the organisational model

For 78 per cent of Italians, the organisational model for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games serves as a valuable benchmark for Italia, and 79 per cent believe that this model could also be replicated for future bids to host major sporting, cultural or exhibition events. This is what emerges from the survey ‘Milan-Cortina 2026: a model for major events of the future’, carried out by the Piepoli Institute in collaboration with WePlan and presented to the Senate on 21 October. According to Giorgio Re and Roberto Daneo, co-founders of WePlan, the survey results provide further evidence of the effectiveness of the planning strategy implemented for the Games, which has enabled the 2026 edition of the event to become an international benchmark.

According to Alberto Stefani, President of the Veneto Region, ‘the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games were not merely an international sporting event, but a collective challenge that went beyond the realm of competition’. And the findings from the survey conducted by the Piepoli Institute and WePlan, based on a sample of 1,000 interviews, appear to confirm this. Across all areas covered by the survey – from the geographical distribution of the venues chosen to host the competitions to the event’s impact on the Italian economy – the responses were encouraging, with percentages of respondents who were ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied ranging, depending on the question, between 65 and 79 per cent.

“The data from the Piepoli Institute,” explain WePlan co-founders Giorgio Re and Roberto Daneo, “confirm the validity of an organisational model based on excellence and the central role of strategic planning in the management of major events. An innovative approach, based on the efficient reuse of existing infrastructure and a widespread geographical distribution, has been key to the success of the Milan–Cortina Games.”

Firstly, according to the research, the Games appear to have succeeded in capturing the public’s interest: among those who answered ‘yes’ or ‘yes, only partly’, 78 per cent of Italians followed the competitions. Furthermore, only 10% say they did not feel ‘at all’ involved or informed about the event, whilst 66% say they felt ‘very’ or ‘quite’ involved.

As for the overall organisation, 72 per cent of Italians give it a favourable rating, praising the fact that it was spread across several regions and the use of existing venues as key factors in its success, whilst 2 per cent rate it as ‘very negative’. More specifically, 79 per cent of those surveyed consider the decision to spread the Games across multiple venues to be effective, whilst 77 per cent believe that the use of established venues has contributed to the quality of the competitions.