Olympic venues seek sustainable business model

A successful bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics could give a second life to the major venues built for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. But creating a profitable business model remains a difficult puzzle for healthy venue operations, experts said at the recent China Summit Forum on International Sports Industry.

Existing Olympic facilities in the Chinese capital are a big selling point as Beijing seeks once more to host an Olympic Games. But the facilities need to be better operated in the meantime, venue owners and experts say.

"Beijing boasts a rich Olympic legacy with many cutting-edge sports facilities and infrastructure that can help land another Games. But the potential of those venues hasn't been fully realized yet," the founder and CEO of sports consulting company Key-Sports, Zhang Qing, told China Daily after the forum on Tuesday.