Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Tom says
"I guess what i am trying to say is that with spending that much  
money i would have expected more"

Well the Malaysians certainly hoped for more as well. The amount that  
they spent on this trip is less than 1/2 of what you estimated  
(including King and dignitaries), but still that's a whole lot of  
money.  And you must also figure the trips to Uruguay and Chile.  And  
then the horses must still be purchased.

Now when you look at the money being spent to host the WEC, including  
building the venue, hosting the Sultans Cup test event, etc etc, then  
you realize the extent of their commitment.   As I said, the entire  
Nation is behind the effort, and it is a long term commitment. The  
immediate goal of fielding a team for the WEC is driving the pace  
this year, but they have a long term policy mandate to build the sport.

As a comparison it would be VERY interesting to look at funds spent  
to field Olympic teams, build Olympic venues. World Cups, etc.. And  
our 2010 WEG effort in Lexington.  I think sports is big business....

Steph

p.s. if this WEC was following the same qualification guidelines as  
ANY of the previous WEC's, there would not be an issue. There would  
already be a full team, plus alternates, qualified to represent their  
country.

p.p.s. I've flown to Malaysia for as little as $2k.  This was a gov't  
sponsored trip - you can expect they would get a significant price  
break on airfares.



On Jan 5, 2008, at 9:57 AM, Tom Sites wrote:

> Reading Stephs wonderful account of the Malaysian Team of 40 coming  
> to New Mexico, i got to thinking of just what this would cost, so i  
> checked out the airfares from Yahoo Travelosity.
>
> They listed no first class and all prices are coach.
>
> The high was $19,073 and the low was $8366 w/ a medium price of  
> $13,791.50.
>
> 40 people @ $13,791.50                                      548,780
> Rental cars for 40 at 4 to a car $500 per car X 10       5,000
> Gas                                                                    
>        500
> Leasing of 6 horses       @ $3000                            18,000
> Hotels and Food                                                      
> 10,000
> Entry Fees for 6 horses @ $200                                1,200
> Miscellaneous expenses                                          5,000
> The Kings Personal expenses                                 10,000
>                                                                        
>   $588,480
>
> To me thats a whole lot of money to get 1 Horse/Riders COC.  To me  
> to spend this much money and show up and some never even ride their  
> horses before the ride makes no sense.
>
> Steph,  I believe you when you say that they are kind and gracious  
> and never complain.  They seem to be very wondeful people with a  
> great amount of interest in Endurance and the hosting of the WEC  
> and i wish them great success in their home country.
>
> I guess what i am trying to say is that with spending that much  
> money i would have expected more.  But thats just me. I hope that  
> when the next attempt to get a Team qualified wherever it is in the  
> world that if that much money is spent they have better results and  
> pick and choose and ride those horses before the event.   I mean  
> this sincerely. ts


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=