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Le Bon Marché department store was founded in Paris in 1852 and introduced pioneering retail concepts to the world

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(CNN) — His ship may have been to hell and back, becoming a floating coronavirus-infected prison for passengers quarantined at port in Japan, but when the captain of the Diamond Princess cruise ship became the last person aboard to finally step onto dry land, he looked entirely unruffled by the experience. If it weren’t for the mask on his face, Gennaro Arma, striding purposefully along the dockside in full uniform with hat under arm, might easily have been stepping down from an uneventful trip shuttling passengers from one vacation destination to another. But those who know him best say the steadfast calm Arma exhibited throughout the ordeal in which more than 700 people on board the ship tested positive for COVID-19 was typical.It’s why, they say, the experienced Italian sailor is now being hailed as a hero at home and abroad.”He emerged to be exactly how people have renamed him — ‘Fearless’,” Arma’s wife, Mariana Gargiulo, tells CNN Travel from her home in Sant’Agnello, a beautiful coastal town south of Naples, where the captain is due to return soon. “He never had any problems, and I never worried because we were constantly in contact.” The quarantine aboard the Diamond Princess has been widely criticized for intensifying the risk of infection for those stuck aboard. Many passengers were eventually airlifted out, but not before at least five people had contracted fatal infections. Nevertheless, Arma apparently proved himself a tireless rock for his passengers and crew during their ordeal and he’s been widely praised for helping lift spirits and for setting a noble example of how a captain should deal with adversity.’My gladiators’His support for his crew was on display right to the end when he disembarked on March 2, having overseen the final transfer of all passengers either to hospital or a quarantine facility. He called them “my gladiators.” Throughout the quarantine, he also regularly thanked all passengers on board for their patience and perseverance, leaving them notes of encouragement. Back in Sant’Agnello his friends, family, townsfolk and local authorities are waiting for Arma’s return, preparing to throw him a huge homecoming party. The captain tested negative for the virus and is currently in quarantine in Japan. His wife says the captain’s calm and control during the emergency made it easier for passengers to endure being confined to their cabins. It also gave his family a sense of peace and reassurance. “We talked each day, both by phone and video chat,” she says. “I could hear he was calm, that everything was fine, and I could see that he was fine. He never had any problems.”I could see him on the ship, he was doing well, working. We had the chance to talk a bit about everything, even our family, and not just about the situation on board.”Arma, according to Gargiulo, is a real sea dog with decades of expertise that led him to travel around the world after he graduated at a prestigious local maritime school. “He is a man with great sea skills and know-how,” she adds. “His main worry has always been the well-being of his passengers. It was a good test.” As the wife of a cruise liner captain, Gargiulo has come to share and support her husband’s job. She says she’s “always been very serene” even during the past critical weeks. “After many years, I’m used by now to the fact that he can be away, and far away, for a long period of time.”Gargiulo says she doesn’t know what Arma’s next plans will be — whether he’ll take a break or not before heading back to sea. For now, she says she’s just focused on seeing him again. ‘A true diamond’His employer, Princess Cruises, has already expressed its gratitude for its captain’s efforts. “Throughout the response efforts on Diamond Princess, Captain Arma was an exceptionally calm, capable, and inspirational leader for everyone on board,” Princess Cruises president Jan Swartz said in a statement to CNN. “From his regular daily shipboard updates to his tireless coordination with public health authorities, Princess shoreside operations, and his on-board team, Captain Arma’s contributions have been hailed worldwide as a case study in outstanding leadership best practices. “As he said to his self-proclaimed ‘gladiators’ onboard — a diamond is a piece of coal that did really well under pressure, and I believe Captain Arma himself is a true diamond.” Passengers too have praised Arma’s steady leadership and the comfort he showed them through regular messages, updates and even gifts. “Thank you to [Captain] Gennaro for his announcements and ability to find humor in an unusual circumstance,” wrote one guest, Au Na Tan, on Twitter.She added that Arma was “courageous, sympathetic and carried himself with dignity and optimism for what was an unprecedented and unique situation. Through the entire journey, he sought to bring light to our circumstances and strove to reassure us as much as he could,” because it’s true that only “a frightened captain makes a frightened crew.”Arma’s wife says his warm and friendly approach to guests is one of his many winning traits and part of his character.’Symbol of Italy'”He always takes good care of passengers, he’s always had a particular attention for them,” she says. “Each day at lunchtime, before they’d start to eat, he wishes them all ‘buon appetito’ in Italian. “And then there was the gesture of handing out flowers and chocolates on St. Valentine’s Day to passengers shut in their cabins,” to make them feel better and let them know they’ve not been abandoned, she says. “It must have been really hard for them.” Passengers were thankful for the Valentine gifts and food, posting photos online of what Arma’s crew provided them with. At one point, Arma recited a quote from the Bible to guests on the power of love, taken from one of St. Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, to lift spirits and send out a message of faith and resilience. It’s not just those who endured the drama on board who have praised the captain. His actions have resonated worldwide, especially in Italy where many people have seen him as embodying Italian endurance and the spirit of sacrifice. They’ve turned to social media to express gratitude and feelings in phrases such as “proud to be Italian. Grazie!”Another admirer says he should be “a mandatory case history for talkative, braggart and cowardly politicians.” “There are captains and captains,” reads another post that says Arma’s actions would be worthy of inclusion in writer Rudyard Kipling’s novel “Captains Courageous.” ‘Anti-Schettino’He’s the “best weapon (‘arma’ in Italian) against all the Schettinos in the world,” said one tweet.Local Sorrento and Amalfi coast newsrooms have also been flooded with messages from Arma’s new fans. One of them wrote how the captain’s efforts make him worthy of “the same sea waters roamed by Odysseus, Aeneas, Christopher Columbus” and other great seafarers and mythological heroes. Matching heroism with humility, Arma’s final message to his crew stressed that it was teamwork that pulled them all through.”We are all on the final leg of our journey,” he wrote. “Stay strong, look after yourselves. We will finish as we started: together.”Thank you, my gladiators, and buon appetito.”

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(CNN) — In the little more than 100 years of commercial air travel, thousands of airlines have come and gone as casualties of oil prices, politics, mismanagement or financial loss. Some closures are more memorable than others, such as Pan Am’s fall from grace and the recent collapse of Thomas Cook, but each of these 17 airlines managed to make an impression on the industry, and on their passengers, before flying their final flights. FlybeFlybe’s fleet was a mix of Bombardiers and Embraers. Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty ImagesThe low-budget airline celebrated its 40th anniversary last year and was Europe’s largest independent regional airline, at one point operating more than 200 routes. The UK government announced in January that it was in talks with the ailing carrier “to set Flybe on a recovery path.” However, the coronavirus outbreak in Europe meant the airline fell victim to a drop in demand for plane travel which has thrown the industry into crisis worldwide, with flights being canceled, planes grounded and airline staff across the globe forced to take unpaid leave. Thomas Cook Group AirlinesThomas Cook was one of the world’s oldest tour operators. Alexander Hassenstein/Getty ImagesBritish tour operator Thomas Cook, a venerable institution of 178 years’ standing, collapsed in September 2019, stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers and triggering a huge repatriation effort. Cook’s increasingly old-fashioned model of selling package deals of flights on its own airlines, along with hotel rooms, from brick-and-mortar stores meant it had been struggling to compete with online rivals and low-budget upstarts. Uncertainty over Brexit and a weak pound were also cited as contributor factors to the operator’s struggles. The airline section of the business operated with more than 100 aircraft, based in the UK, Denmark and Germany. Wow AirWow Air had hoped that a last-minute sale or merger with a higher-profile airline would come through. Getty Images/studioportosabbiaIn March 2019, Iceland-based Wow Air, known for its wow-ingly low-priced flights between Europe and North America, abruptly shuttered and announced it was bankrupt. “Wow had been in financial trouble, they had attempted to merge with Icelandair which failed,” says CNN’s Richard Quest. “The writing was on the wall but Wow just continued to let people book.”When the hoped-for merger with Icelandair fell apart at the last minute, it resulted in stranded passengers throughout Europe. Although Wow’s bright purple liveries and charismatic CEO Skuli Mogensen got plenty of buzz during its eight-year tenure, the airline might be best remembered for its spectacular demise.US AirwaysFounded in 1937 as “All American Aviation,” the airline rebranded to “Allegheny Airlines” in 1953, to “USAir” in 1979, when it was considered among the world’s largest airlines, and finally to “US Airways” in 1997. As US Airways, the carrier flew a wide domestic and international network from its hubs at Charlotte, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington D.C.-National airports, and bought up Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), Piedmont Airlines, and the failing Trump Shuttle. On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 landed on the Hudson River following engine failure from multiple bird strikes. All passengers and crew survived in the event, now termed the “Miracle on the Hudson.” US Airways merged with American Airlines in 2013, forming the world’s largest airline, with the final US Airways-branded flight landed in April 2015.ContinentalContinental’s long history began in 1937 when “Varney Speed Lines” rebranded and refocused, from flying airmail to carrying passengers. A Continental Airlines plane.Charlie Riedel/ASSOCIATED PRESSThe airline was responsible for many historic “firsts,” such as hiring the first African-American pilot to work for any major US carrier (1963), inaugurating the first regular jet routes connecting islands across the Pacific (1968), flying the first non-stop route over 16 hours (Newark to Hong Kong, 2001) and offering 24-hour online support (2009). Headquartered in Houston and with other hubs in Cleveland, Newark and Guam, Continental flew until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. Midwest AirlinesThis airline, founded in 1984 and with routes across the country chiefly from its Milwaukee and Kansas City hubs, ceased to exist in late 2010 when it merged into Frontier Airlines. From the 1990s into the early 2000s, Midwest set itself apart from competitors by continuing to offer generous, complimentary hot meals when other airlines were cutting back on amenities. Midwest’s famous warm chocolate chip cookies, baked and served onboard every flight, outlasted the Midwest brand and continued on Frontier flights until that airline discontinued the cookie service in 2012.ATA AirlinesThe tail of an ATA plane.MICHAEL CONROY/APInitially launching as charter company in 1973, ATA began scheduled operations in 1986 with flights from the Midwest to Florida, serving vacation routes that would ultimately become the airline’s specialty despite a brief experiment with international flights. Indianapolis and Chicago-Midway Airports served as ATA hubs. Following the economic effects of September 11, 2001, the airline suffered financial setback after setback, until declaring bankruptcy and ceasing operations on April 2, 2008, with flights still in the air. During the bankruptcy, Southwest Airlines scooped up the ATA brand, its access at LaGuardia Airport, and the operating certificate for $7.5 million.TWAA remnant of the glory days of Trans World Airlines remains at New York’s JFK Airport, the airline’s transatlantic hub, where passengers departed and arrived through the Eero Saarinen-designed “TWA Flight Center” terminal. This icon of fantastical, mid-century architecture is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been redeveloped as a hotel and conference center.Aloha AirlinesThe end of World War II and the purchase of a military surplus plane led to the 1946 creation of Aloha Airlines, which operated flights between the US mainland and Hawaii, and to other Pacific islands. Aloha was the main competitor to Hawaiian Airlines, but it was a fare war with the now-defunct island-hopper airline “go!” that drove Aloha to declare bankruptcy and cease operations in 2008.Transcend Air has plans for a jet-fast plane that takes off and lands vertically, allowing it to skip the crowded runway and land in city waterways. Kingfisher AirlinesTravelers to India may be familiar with the Kingfisher brand of beer, but the name (and the beer’s parent company) also entered the airline business, with Kingfisher Airlines commencing flights around India in 2005. Its international service, to London, featured a bar in first class, and top-of-the-line entertainment systems and full-size pillows even in economy. Consistent heavy financial losses drove Kingfisher to the brink of cessation several times, before the airline was forced to end operations in 2012 when India suspended its license and froze its accounts for non-payment of taxes.Take a rare tour of the Airbus A220-300 cockpit with Air Baltic’s chief pilot Gerhard RamckeEos AirlinesThe short-lived Eos Airlines, which existed only from 2004 to 2008, was an all-business-class carrier flying 48-seat Boeing 757s between New York-JFK and London’s Stansted Airport. It was a trend leader, heralding the slew of all-premium transatlantic airlines that also started up in the mid-2000s, like L’Avion, MAXJet and Silverjet. Before Eos could see through its plans to expand all-business-class flights to other US, European, and even South American destinations, the airline suddenly collapsed into bankruptcy.Primera AirPrimera may have hit the headlines for its spectacularly terrible failure and stranding thousands of passengers (and even its own crew) when it ceased operations in October 2018 without warning, but the airline had been around since 2003 and was a successful charter operation before it pivoted to ultra-low-cost scheduled flights primarily on European holiday routes.Primera’s attempt to offer long-haul, transatlantic flights between the United States and Europe then literally got off the ground in April 2018, only to last a few months before the entire operation collapsed two years ago.Monarch AirlinesPrimera’s failure came on the one-year anniversary of Monarch Airlines’ own demise, which occurred on October 2, 2017. The budget British airline, founded in 1967, flew vacationers to tourism hotspots around Europe, as well as to Israel. Financial difficulties drove Monarch to desperately seek funding and, despite scoring some investment from Boeing in 2016, the airline shut down and stranded some 110,000 passengers who were later repatriated on other airlines in an operation costing £60 million ($78 million).Air BerlinAn Air Berlin plane.ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty ImagesFounded by Americans in 1978, Air Berlin initially operated holiday charter flights from West Berlin to Mediterranean vacation destinations. German reunification saw the airline rapidly expand, and Air Berlin became one of the largest European carriers. Future plans and expansion hinged on eventually basing operations at Berlin’s new Brandenburg Airport, which was originally due to open in 2011 but suffered rolling delays and is now not expected to open, if at all, until 2020. Air Berlin scaled back on operations over several years and, with sustained financial losses, finally flew its final flight in October 2017. Nearly immediately Lufthansa swooped in and purchased 81 of its aircraft and employed more than 3,000 former Air Berlin employees, with Easyjet also taking a smaller piece of the Air Berlin pie.Pan AmThe Pan Am Experience restaurant takes “passengers” back to the airline’s ’70s heyday complete with a four-course meal. Pan Am, short for Pan American World Airways, is the story of a tiny, airmail carrier that hopped from Florida to Cuba and back beginning in 1927, to become the world’s largest airline and an industry innovator until its demise in 1991. Graduating from floatplanes to Boeing 747s, the airline pioneered flight routes, opened hotels (starting the InterContinental hotel chain), and symbolized the glamor of the jet age. Oil crises, hijackings and attacks, and other operational setbacks forced Pan Am into dire financial straits, and the carrier ceased on December 4, 1991. Delta paid $1.39 billion to acquire Pan Am’s assets, also honoring passenger tickets on the bankrupt carrier.TedWhen low-cost airline literally and figuratively took off in the United States in the mid-2000s, United felt the pressure to try its own hand and thus formed Ted. The airline began flying all-economy Airbus A320s in 2004, with a hub at Denver International Airport. In-flight entertainment on Ted flights was limited to “Tedevision” and “TedTunes,” and the airline sold teddy bears onboard. Ted’s main competitors were Frontier Airlines and Delta’s similar low-cost experiment, Song, and it lasted until 2009 when operations were folded back into United.Virgin AmericaKnown for its colorful cabin lighting, quirky personality, and desire to offer a stylish option in US air travel, Virgin America seduced fliers and captured airline awards throughout its decade of existence. Although Virgin Group head Richard Branson was only a minority owner, his stunts combined with innovative marketing approaches often grabbed headlines, such as when Branson headlined and crowd-surfed at a Dallas rally while the airline utilized Change.org to gather support for the right to fly from the city’s Love Field. Hearts broke across the country when Alaska Airlines was successful in purchasing the airline, and the final Virgin America flight took off on April 24, 2018.Michelle Toh contributed to this report.

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(CNN) — At the forefront of the photo, a diver leaps into azure Spanish skies, arching her body into a streamlined curve.In the background, a panoramic Barcelona skyline stretches out, punctuated by La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s half-finished masterpiece of a cathedral, and fringed by distant hills.Over the course of the Olympics’ two-week stint in Barcelona, variations on this eye-catching scene were broadcast on television screens around the world, cementing a spectacular image of the Spanish city in the memories of millions.The result? Barcelona arrived squarely on the tourism map, transforming from an undiscovered gem to a must-visit European destination: in 1990, there were just 1.7 million overnight visitors, by 2016, there were over 8 million.Sure, during that time the Spanish city also benefited from the growth of budget flights, a booming cruise industry and increasing word of mouth reports of its many cultural highlights — but many reckon the successful Olympic stint is what kickstarted the uptake.But while tourists still flock to Barcelona’s Montjuïc area to see the view that the Olympics made famous, across the Mediterranean in Greece, many of the venues that were once the glory of Athens 2004 lie seemingly semi-abandoned and forgotten.They’re not alone: In China, some of Beijing’s 2008 Olympic venues have been absorbed by nature, weeds growing inside what was once the BMX track.With a new Olympic city in the spotlight every couple of years, the short-term tourism opportunity and long-term tourism legacy promised by hosting the Games is alluring. But the threat of populating your city with “white elephant” venues that serve no purpose post-Games is increasingly disconcerting. Early this year, concerns were raised about the safety of Rio’s 2016 Olympics Park, with a judge even ordering its closure.So why do Olympic venues sometimes get abandoned? And how do cities ensure a positive Olympic legacy for both tourists and locals?Building an Olympic cityThe new National Stadium will host the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Summer Olympics are one of the world’s biggest sporting events, and, unsurprisingly, building an Olympic city is no easy feat.It all starts with a would-be host submitting a bid, outlining how they intend to get their Games off the ground, and how they’ll transform their city into a sporting playground.”These days you need somewhere between 35 and 40 athletic venues to just host the required games for the Olympics,” explains Andrew Zimbalist, Robert A. Woods professor of economics at Smith College in Massachusetts, and the author of several studies on the economics of the Olympic Games.Some of the Olympic venues from Athens 2004 have not fared well.Milos Bicanski/Getty Images”On top of that, you need an Olympic village that will house somewhere in the neighborhood of 18,000 people, you need a media village that also requires beds for several thousand people.”In short, it takes a lot of space and a lot of venues.In that sense, says Zimbalist, a city getting saddled with white elephants post-Olympics is perhaps more likely than not. “Ask yourself the question, if a city did not have a economically justifiable reason to have a facility the day before the Olympics began, why would they have an economically justifiable reason to have the facility 18 days later, after the Olympics ends, or after the Paralympics, a month and a half later, ends?” the economist tells CNN Travel.The BMX track used for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is now abandoned.GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty ImagesIn recent years, bidding cities have tried to circumnavigate this issue by planning ahead, devising ways to successfully transform into an Olympic city, and successfully transform back again, whether via temporary venues, or converting pre-existing apparatus.This isn’t just cities being inventive — nowadays it’s pretty much mandated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who oversee the Games and the bidding process.In 2013, the IOC adopted its Olympic Agenda 2020 reform program, seeking to make the games more sustainable and to “keep up with the changes in our current world.” The new program stipulates that the venues do not need to be permanent, or new, and costs do not need to be astronomical. “Image building is extremely powerful,” says Christophe Dubi, executive director of the IOC. “But you need a plan. That’s what we gauge now, in the dialogue [with host cities.]”Making the bidAn American tourist presents a ticket at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP via Getty ImagesWhy a destination bids to host an Olympics Games is dependent upon its individual economic, social, cultural and historical factors.”Cities bid for the Olympics for geopolitics reasons, for media branding reasons, for sponsorship, to track foreign direct investment and talent and so on,” says Tony Johnston, head of Tourism at Althone Institute of Technology in Ireland.While tourism might not be the motivating factor for bidding, hosting a mega event puts your city on show, on a global scale. And such high stakes have, for a long while, come hand-in-hand with high prices. “If a city did not have a economically justifiable reason to have a facility the day before the Olympics began, why would they have an economically justifiable reason to have the facility 18 days later, after the Olympics ends?”Andrew Zimbalist, Robert A. Woods professor of economics at Smith CollegeSome city populations have expressed concerns about the mounting costs. Boston, in the US, and Hamburg, in Germany, withdrew their respective bids for the 2024 games. Boston made the decision after polls indicated a lack of support, while Hamburg pulled out of its bid following a citywide referendum in which 51.6% of residents said they were against the idea.”We are encouraging the organizing committees to find solutions that are cheaper if they do exist,” Dubi tells CNN Travel. “And we really embrace that spirit of creativity, innovation in order to contain the costs.”Dubi says he’s confident prices are becoming more restrained.He also adds that the importance of planning for legacy is true of any major sporting event.”We are permanently dialoguing with future hosts for 2030, 32, 34 etc,” adds Dubi. “What is your long term plan in terms of development for the city and the region? And how can the Games contribute? You have to have a strong plan and the Games as a contributor to make it a success.”London as a case studyThe Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London was built for the Summer Olympic Games in 2012.Courtesy The London Legacy Development CorporationIn 2012, right before the Olympic Agenda 2020 was adopted, London hosted the Summer Olympic Games. This Olympic stint didn’t offer Barcelona levels of tourism transformation — perhaps because, as economics and environmental studies expert Victor A. Matheson jokingly put it: “The Olympics aren’t going to put London on the map because if London isn’t already on your map, you really need to get yourself a new map.”But London’s Games did try and prepare for a post-Olympics future. How successfully the city did so depends on who you ask.The London Legacy Development Corporation was formed a couple months before the 2012 Olympics, with the aim of using “the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of the London 2012 Games and the creation of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to develop a dynamic new heart for east London, creating opportunities for local people and driving innovation and growth in London and the UK.”Peter Tudor, the corporation’s director of visitor services, recently showed CNN Travel around the London Aquatics Centre, the swanky water palace purpose-built for the London Olympics’ swimming, diving and synchronized swimming events.It’s been a public pool since 2014. On a rainy winter weekday, it was teeming with activity — from school kids crowding the entryways to serious swimmers doing laps beneath the undulating roof.”The London Olympics was probably one of the first times people were really thinking about what happens after the Games, lots of cities got to the end of their Games and then asked the question,” says Tudor.The Aquatics Centre cost £269 million to build, and underwent a lengthy, pricey, transformation process to become a public space. It still hosts official events from time to time: the FINA Diving World Series is scheduled to take place here in March 2020, followed shortly after by the British Swimming Championships.But for some east Londoners, it’s just their local gym — even if UK Olympian Tom Daley can occasionally be seen catapulting off the diving board.The London Aquatic Centre is now a public pool.Courtesy The London Legacy Development CorporationLondon’s Olympic Park is based in Stratford, in the east of the city, a historically poorer, industrial area. Part of the London Olympic bid was a promise to regenerate this part of the British capital.The city’s then-mayor, Ken Livingstone, said the Olympics was “the only way to get the billions of pounds out of the government to develop the East End — to clean the soil, put in the infrastructure and build the housing.”There’s certainly been a lot of housing built here, pre and post-2012. There’s still more development to come as part of the still-in-the-works East Bank development, including planned east London offshoots of the Victoria and Albert Museum and Sadlers Wells Theatre.Additionally, in the post-Olympic years, London’s stadium has become a soccer hub for London football team West Ham United. The ArcelorMittal Orbit tower — a piece of public art designed to symbolize the triumph of the Olympics — doubles up as a slide and viewing platform.Still, this transformation didn’t come cheap. The London Stadium was originally pitched at £280 million ($358 million at today’s exchange rates) — its final construction cost was £486 million, and converting it into a venue suitable for West Ham cost an additional £272 million.And naysayers question whether there was a need for a super fancy helter-skelter, or huge new stadium. Plus, they say, the East End area of the city had been pegged for regeneration whether or not the Olympics came to town. “If the [British] government had simply provided incentives to encourage that development, then you would have would have gotten much more authentic and organic and deep economic development in that area then anything that you might have gotten from the Olympic construction,” says economist Zimbalist.London’s ArcelorMittal Orbit tower — a piece of public art that doubles up as a slide and viewing platform.Courtesy The London Legacy Development CorporationLondoner Julian Cheyne used to live in a housing estate called Clays Lane, knocked down in 2007 to make way for the Olympic Park. Cheyne is the co-founder of a site called GamesMonitor, that views the Olympic project through a critical lens.”If you are a part of the property industry, then you can make a lot of money out of projects associated with the Olympics,” Cheyne tells CNN Travel. “And it means that you get the opportunity to remove people from areas of land which you might have your eye on.”Cheyne was rehoused and received monetary compensation, but he says he had “no desire to move.”He is, in fact, skeptical that the Olympics have any sort of positive impact on tourism.”It’s very difficult to think of any particular benefits that London has had as a result of the Olympics. It was a well known city. It didn’t need this boost in order to get tourists to come to it.””I’m not really a fan of the Olympics at all, I don’t think that these major events contribute anything to the cities, apart from a degree of destruction to largely poor neighborhoods,” says Cheyne.The London Legacy Corporation, however, argues the city’s Olympics, and ongoing legacy has largely boosted the lives of locals and tourists.Peter Tudor points to a series of recent high profile sporting events as one example: in 2019, the London Stadium played host to two Major League Baseball (MLB) games between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. The matches were part of a two year arrangement for MLB to play season matches at the city’s stadium — this year will see the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Chicago Cubs.The IOC, says Tudor, likes to recommend prospective bidders come and visit the London venues — to see how legacy building is done.”We show other nations delegations round on a fairly frequent basis,” he explains.Unexpected tourismWhen it comes to an Olympic tourism uptake, almost three decades after divers were filmed catapulting through Barcelona’s skyline, the Spanish city’s still most often held up as an example of the Olympics’ power to transform a city’s tourism fortunes for the better.It’s not the only one, though. Turin, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006, also saw a boost: Visitor numbers in Piedmont increased from 3.3 million in 2016 to 4.3 million in 2012.Another Winter Olympics success story is Salt Lake City, Utah, which hosted in 2002.Utah, once second-fiddle to Colorado as a ski destination, had its profile raised thanks to the Olympics, explains economist Victor Matheson. The exposure led to an increase in the number of skier visits in Salt Lake City (and surrounding area), and more rapid growth than neighboring Colorado, Matheson says.These success stories might have staying power in the public consciousness, but so too do the abandoned venues; stories on these spots make headlines, populate Instagram and Flickr and inspire think pieces.While on paper abandoned Olympic infrastructure might seem like a waste, a failure to capitalize on Olympic legacy, oddly, such venues can become a tourist attraction of their own — albeit a niche, and possibly even illegal-to-visit one.Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984 and many of the venues are now abandoned. ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP via Getty ImagesThe popularity of “ruin porn” — artsy photographs of abandoned venues — can send photographers flocking to the graffiti-strewn bobsled tracks of Sarajevo, or Athens’ disused venues.The IOC, meanwhile, is keen to stress that the venues which appear abandoned sometimes have more to them than meets the eye.”We are conscious that some venues from past Games are not utilized as fully as they could be,” says Bernardo Domingues, media relations manager at the IOC.”However, too often we see outdated or out of context reports or images of venues from past Games that do not represent the current situation or account for the full picture.”“The one message that I really insist upon is that we have turned the page, Games bidding and Games organization has been really totally revamped”Christophe Dubi, executive director, International Olympic CommitteeThe IOC points to Beijing’s often-photographed BMX track, saying it was always intended as a temporary facility, and photos of the cities Canoeing and Rowing Park, which it says do not demonstrate the facility’s full use.In Rio, the issue, says Dubi, is that temporary venues haven’t been dismantled.Domingues says the IOC is currently conducting a research study looking at the post-Games use of all existing Olympic venues, with results due in early 2021.Not everything’s been perfect in the past, the organization admits, and it says it’s learning from this — pointing to the new Olympic Agenda 2020 reform program.”The one message that I really insist upon is that we have turned the page. Games bidding and Games organization has been really totally revamped,” says Dubi.Olympic futureThe IOC is currently planning for future Olympic Games.Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesThe mission of the modern Olympic Games is to build bridges between countries and celebrate connections — and offer a stellar fortnight of sporting greatness.This mission is predicated on the idea that the Olympics sets up shop in a different city every couple of years, opening the world’s eyes to the wonders of that particular destination.Still, some experts suggest that to eradicate fears of disused venues, and as a way of addressing the increasingly fervent question of sustainability, the IOC should abandon the bidding system altogether.The proposed alternative? A few cities alternate hosting duties at purpose-built, permanent venues. Andrew Zimbalist calls this concept, “the only sensible plan,” while Matheson, while admitting that it’s not 100% in the spirit of the Olympics, says he would “vote in favor of that — and in a heartbeat.”Tokyo is hosting the Olympics this summer.Matt Roberts/Getty ImagesThe IOC, however, is more interested in an alternative idea that’s already being put into practice: giving the Olympic Games a larger footprint — that is, a region, or even entire country hosting, rather than one city.The 2026 Winter Olympics, for example, is due to be hosted by Italian cities Milan and Cortina.And while Tokyo’s initial plan for 2020 was to construct new venues on the islands surrounding Tokyo Bay, this idea was rejigged to instead reuse venues from the Games in 1964, build temporary structures that will be dismantled post-Games, and utilize existing structures further afield.There are 12 venues that are located over five miles from the Olympic village HQ.This plan comes with an added tourism bonus, as more of the country will be spotlighted.”We’ve learned over the past that ultra-compact Games, although they are very good from an operational stand point, they do not necessarily equate to a good legacy,” says Dubi.”We have to maintain this uniqueness of the Games, this experience for athletes, to start with, while at the same time maintaining the balance when it comes to the usage of venues and the impact on the cost of the Games.”

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Paris (CNN) — As the cradle of high fashion, Paris gave the world designers like Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior, who in turn gifted the world some of fashion history’s most enduring iconography, including the LBD, or little black dress.But there are two other French figures who don’t get nearly as much credit in the fashion and retail world as they should, given that they are probably more relevant to the average household than Chanel and Dior.At Le Bon Marché department store in Paris, which was founded in 1852 and holds the title of the oldest and longest-running department store in the world, Aristide and Marguerite Boucicaut pioneered retail concepts many people probably take for granted.The husband and wife team were revolutionary in this fast-changing industry called retail. Le Bon Marché was founded in Paris in 1852, making it the world’s oldest and longest-running department store.Yvan Matrat/Courtesy Le Bon Marché Rive GaucheThe practice of returning merchandise for a refund? Le Bon Marché lays claim to the concept. Mail order catalogs à la Ikea and J. Crew? In fact, the Boucicauts published the world’s first department store catalog and included fabric swatches for customers to select the color and material of their attire. They enabled — and empowered — shoppers to customize their designs.And the modern, now-ubiquitous practice of free delivery for purchases of $25 or more? You could say Le Bon Marché was a forerunner in that department as well, introducing home delivery 160 years ago for mail orders costing over 25 francs.While the retail industry has changed a great deal since 1852, Le Bon Marché has maintained a strong foothold, evolving in response to industry changes and shoppers’ proclivities. Revolutionizing the way we shop It’s a Saturday afternoon inside the ladies’ department of the luxury department store on Paris’s Left Bank, and shoppers are performing time-honored rituals: sifting through designer dresses, flipping over price tags and holding blouses up their necks to inspect their reflections in the mirror.Customers looking for a deal rummage through the sales racks; the tactile ones run materials through their fingers, while window shoppers with no agenda waltz through the store, letting their gazes take in the goods.It’s a common enough scene that could be replayed across town at Galeries Lafayette, Printemps or any other department store, in any other city in the world.Le Bon Marché bills itself as the small, big department store, a play on words in French (le petit grand magasin).Stephane Muratet/Courtesy Le Bon Marché Rive GaucheExcept that, were it not for the trailblazing concepts pioneered at Le Bon Marché, today’s contemporary shopping experience might not be as easily recognizable. For starters, let’s begin with the one-stop shop. Finding everything from trousers to bedsheets and dishware to hairdryers and lipstick under one roof was an idea popularized in large part at Le Bon Marché under the Boucicauts’ leadership. In the 19th century, if you needed an umbrella, you went to a shop specializing in umbrellas. Same for women’s clothing or shoes. Most shops specialized in one single item, explains Eléna Fertil, Le Bon Marché’s head of cultural events, and all merchandise was stocked behind the counter.While this way of procuring items may sound romantic, it was also a bit tedious.”The customer saw nothing. If they needed pink sheets, they would have to ask the sales clerk who would then pull out the closest thing they had to pink sheets,” Fertil said.When Aristide joined the small shop on the corner of rue du Bac and rue de Sèvres in 1852 as a partner with the Videau brothers, he introduced modern, little-known practices that brought merchandise out into the open for customers to browse and touch. He also attached a fixed price to the goods.”Before, prices were at the discretion of the sales clerk, so the same product could be sold for two different prices to two different clients,” Fertil explained.Previously, when customers walked into a shop, it was understood they would walk out with a purchase. But at Bon Marché entry was “free.” Customers were invited to enter and browse at their leisure. No purchase necessary. And if they had buyer’s remorse — too small, too big, too expensive — they could exchange or return the item for a full refund. Goods were also priced at a smaller profit margin (bon marché is French for a “good deal”) but inventory turnover was high.A gathering space for the female bourgeoisieThere, monied wives could spend an entire day daydreaming and socializing, independent of their husbands.”Back then, cities were men’s spaces,” adds Jan Whitaker, a consumer historian from North Hampton, Massachusetts who authored the 2011 book “The World of Department Stores.””If you were an upper middle-class woman, the streets were a vulnerable place to be. So department stores became women’s spaces, and that was really significant.”The business model is still to get as many people through the door as possible, and get them to stay.Archives du Bon Marché Rive GaucheThe business model was much the same then as it is now: to get as many people of the socio-economic spectrum through the door as possible — and get them to stay.”It was luxury for the masses,” Whitaker said. “These were grandiose buildings that lower classes would otherwise never be invited into. The fact that they could go in there freely and that somebody would wait on you was not something to be taken for granted.”Patrons of the artsThe Boucicauts also understood the importance of customer loyalty and time spent inside the store. After buying out the Videau brothers and taking complete ownership in 1863, the couple expanded the space and added new features and services that were deemed game changers at the time: a reading room for waiting husbands, a salon offering complimentary food and refreshments, billiard room, hairdressing salon, travel office and live concerts events.The Boucicauts understood the importance of customer loyalty and time spent inside the store.Archives du Bon Marché Rive GaucheAnother claim to fame? Gustave Eiffel was one of the contributing engineers who helped design the building’s steel structure.But one of the Boucicauts’ biggest legacies, which is given special honor to this day, is their support of the fine arts. Avant-gardists, the couple opened an art gallery in 1875 within the department store, offering artists who had been turned away by the Paris Salon — the official art exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris — a home for their works and a large public audience, Burckhardt wrote. Stroll through the store today 145 years later, and you’ll note that paintings, photographs, drawings and sculptures — a contemporary art collection curated over the last 30 years — line store walls and are placed strategically amidst the luxury goods.In 2016, the store invited Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei to launch a new art program, designed to pay homage to Aristide’s creation of the annual White Sale in January.As the story goes, Boucicault was walking around, despondent at seeing the shop so empty following the Christmas holidays. After looking out the window and seeing it snow, he decided to pull out all the white merchandise in the store and hold a big sales event, Fertil explained.In a nod to this tradition, the store launched a program inviting international contemporary artists to create customized pop-up installations for Le Bon Marché every January. Their only request? That it center around the color white. Everything else is carte blanche, as they say, for the artists.”These exhibits are really meant as a gift to our visitors,” Fertil said. “The idea is that by strolling through the Bon Marché, they’ll be moved by the artist’s vision. Some loyal customers come every year to seek out our exhibits, but we know that others who’ve come just to shop may be pleasantly surprised to discover expositions like these.” The rebranding of Le Bon MarchéA 1984 rebranding included the brand’s targeting the high-end luxury market.Archives du Bon Marché Rive GaucheToday, Le Bon Marché bills itself as the small, big department store, a play on words in French (le petit grand magasin). Compared to Printemps (which was founded by a former Bon Marché employee) and Galeries Lafayette, arguably the most beautiful of the three, Le Bon Marché is more manageable in size and conducive to slower paced “promenades” or strolls.”It’s designed to inspire people to amble through the store like we do in Paris streets, to discover new things, be surprised, to stop, enjoy a coffee and relax,” added store style director Jennifer Culliver.Indeed, like the streets of Paris, to stroll through the department store is to stroll by architectural gems, most notably under the dozen skylights originally designed to corral a flood of natural light into the store and help spotlight the merchandise. Today, Boucicaut’s understanding of lighting and product marketing is an indispensable part of retail layout and design.The department store now stocks some of the world’s most exclusive luxury brands. Gabriel de la Chapelle/Courtesy Le Bon Marché Rive GaucheThe department store now stocks some of the world’s most exclusive luxury brands, but also tries to stay relevant by sourcing new and emerging brands and striking exclusive collaborations with designers, Culliver says. In-store customization services invite shoppers to personalize their sneakers and denim; cooking classes and demos are held regularly throughout the year; and artists are invited to host talks with the public. All strategies are aimed at attracting foot traffic, at a time when e-commerce and online retail giants like Amazon have completely altered the way consumers shop. Department stores in the US are floundering, but Le Bon Marché hopes to lure some of these international visitors inside its doors for a different kind of shopping experience.Unlike Macy’s, the well-known US department store which has been closing its doors around the country, Le Bon Marché isn’t fighting to stay alive.The competition isn’t suffering either: Galeries Lafayette opened a new location on the Champs-Elysées last year, while LVMH is resurrecting heritage building La Samaritaine this spring as a mixed-use development that will give the city a new luxury department store. Whitaker points out that what saves heritage department stores like Le Bon Marché from becoming obsolete is one key demographic. “Tourists are so important for the survival of department stores in Europe. These are people who have the time to explore and leisure money to spend.”

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