An Olympic host election is the result of a close collaborative partnership between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the potential host, together with its National Olympic Committee (NOC), to explore every aspect of the proposed Games vision and plan. Cities and regions interested in hosting the Olympic Games should reach out first to their NOC, to request its official support. The NOC then makes contact with the IOC, which provides support and advice from the early stages.
If the NOC decides to take the project further, it can send an official letter to the IOC in order to enter Continuous Dialogue as an Interested Party. Each NOC can only support one official project involving its country. This project could involve one or more cities or regions.
The host election process is overseen by two Future Host Commissions, one for Summer, and one for Winter Games. When it feels a project is ready to move to the next stage, the relevant Future Host Commission can recommend to the IOC Executive Board (EB) to open a Targeted Dialogue for a specific edition/year of the Summer or Winter Olympic Games, with one or more cities or regions. From this point the Interested Party is known as a Preferred Host for the Games edition.
During this process, IOC Members will have a number of opportunities to learn more about the project from feasibility reports by the Future Host Commission and presentations by the Preferred Host.
At the end of the Targeted Dialogue, following a detailed report and recommendation by the Future Host Commission, the EB will decide whether to propose one or more hosts for election by all IOC members at an IOC Session. For transparency, the Commission report and all key documents are published.
Learn more:
Future Host Election
Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games
Future Host Commission for the Games of the Olympiad