PortAventura hosted the United Nations Inter-Agency Games (UNIAG), which the UN holds on an annual basis, with the participation of over 1,500 people from more than 127 countries, excellent attendance figures compared with the games held in New York last year.
Held from 29 April-3 May at PortAventura, the official venue of the games, the opening ceremony took place in theme park’s Mediterranean theme area. The aim of these games is to congregate active and retired members of the more than 50 international agencies of the UN, such as UNHCR, UNICEF, IAEA, UNOG and UNESCO so as to engage through sports and other leisure activities and, in this way, improve mutual understanding in the workplace.
Over 1,500 people participated in the 42nd edition of the IAG, including athletes, voluntary workers, judges and referees from 127 countries. The participants competed in 13 sports modalities held at over 70 facilities both at PortAventura and in the municipalities of the Costa Dorada, such as Salou, Tarragona and Cambils.
Laura Valdeolivas, director of PortAventura Business & Events, stated: "I greatly appreciate the confidence that the UN’s Organizing Committee and the agency Always Sports has placed in us. Moreover, I would like to personally thank the people who participated in the event, with the aim of improving work relations through sports."
Leroy Brown, chairperson of UNIAG, put the accent on "the involvement of the Costa Dorada’s public administrations and institutions, particularly the provincial government of Tarragona’s Tourism Office, and the town councils of Tarragona, Salou and Cambrils," before extending special thanks to PortAventura Business & Events for its organization and to the collaboration of the event’s partners (Cola-Cola, Decathlon and Autocares Plana) "without whom the games would have been impossible."
Toni Alquezar, founder-partner of Always Sports, the agency responsible for organizing the games, stressed the importance of the event: "A project based on agreements with local private partners and public institutions which helped to get the games off the ground, achieving an innovative and economically sustainable event," and thanked the team at PortAventura for the hard work that made the games possible: "It has been a pleasure to work with the team of Business & Events to meet this challenge, thanks to their involvement and wide experience in organizing events of this type."
PortAventura hosts the 42nd edition of the UNIAG Games