The newly overhauled Ondrej Nepela Hockey Stadium in Bratislava is just about ready, with inspections by Bratislava mayor Milan Ftacnik on Saturday and PM Iveta Radicova yesterday giving it the thumbs up.
The stadium was officially handed over to the organisers this week in preparation for the 2011 Ice Hockey World Championships, which will be held here and in Kosice over 16 days from 29 April.
The Prime Minister was escorted around the new modern complex by Bratislava mayor Milan Ftacnik, education minister Eugen Jurzyca, and also the borough mayor of Nove Mesto, Rudolf Kusy, who officially handed the stadium over to the event organisers.
At a press conference last week City Hall released information about the services that will accompany the international event. A EUR 96,000 promotional campaign has now been launched to provide visitors to the city with all basic information.
Bratislava’s campaign motto “Horime nedockavostou” (“We’re burning with anticipation”) is now visible on billboards and at hot spots (bus stops etc), with information in Slovak and English. You can get fresh info in English, German, Russian and Slovak at www.ms2011.info or by calling the BKIS hotline, while a special mobile phone application will provide everyone with up-to-date info on all the latest news.
All the communication channels will be used also to promote things to do in and around Bratislava and should be used for general tourism after the championships.
Ticket touts in Slovakia are already auctioning off the much-prized tickets for matches, especially those in which the Slovak team is playing, asking for anything from EUR 150 to EUR 500, according to daily Pravda. The organisers have even turned to the police about the practices, but they say that no crime is being committed.