Further to Al's comments: It's worth noting that it's often just as hard to
get from a city's airport into that city's centre as it is to get from that
airport to other cities. Since airports are only rarely actually in the city
centre significant public transport is almost always needed, which is always
in danger of being confusing when you are in a foreign country and signs are
not in your native language. Furthermore even when you arrive in the city
centre you often have a considerable journey ahead of you to get to your
accommodation, something which is much less of a problem in small cities
(which are usually the ones without airports).
The issue for Wikimania is not the distance, it's effective communication
and help for those journeying that distance.
Tom
From: wikimania-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org
[mailto:wikimania-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Al Tally
Sent: 02 August 2008 15:07
To: Wikimania general list (open subscription)
Subject: Re: [Wikimania-l] Comments
Florence Devouard wrote:
However, it seems a fair point to say that in the
future, we should
choose a city where there is an international airport.
I would not treat this as an absolute requirement, but if we must travel
a significant distance from the city with the primary international
airport, the difficulties of getting people to the other city need to be
addressed.
Please *don't* discount cities without international airports. We are
currently working on a bid for Oxford, that does not have an international
airport, but excellent links to London ones. The problem with Alexandria was
that while the links are good from Cairo, we relied too much on the free
shuttle provided by the team, but they were, to be honest, pretty hopeless.
Besides, I wouldn't want Oxford to lose out for that one detail, as the
airports aren't more than 2 hours by road away, and even less by train.
--
Al Tally
(User:Majorly)