Pyeongchang has been awarded the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympics following a vote in Durban, South Africa.

Bidding for the third consecutive time, after being defeated in competitions for the 2010 and 2014 Games, the South Korean city beat rivals Annecy and Munich in Germany.

Annecy, in France, had been considered the outsider going into the vote, while Pyeongchang had been expected to take the prize.

Munich has hoped to become the first city to host both a summer and winter Games.

The Bavarian capital staged the summer Olympics in 1972.

A total of 95 International Olympic Committee (IOC) delegates cast their votes during the ballot.

IOC

An IOC evaluation commission visited each of the three cities and issued a report assessing the bids a month before the final vote.

It is the fewest number of bids to stage a Winter Olympics since 1981, when three finalists competed for the 1988 Olympics.

Calgary eventually took that prize.

Pyeongchang - located in the Alpensia Mountains east of Seoul - narrowly lost out to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics and to Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 Games.

WSDE Sports Tourism Expo

The Winter Olympics is considered to be one of the crown jewels of the $600bn annual sports tourism industry.

WSDE is the only global exhibition and business forum dedicated to showcasing this booming market - the most rapidly growing sector in travel and tourism.

Now in its 2nd year, WSDE will take place in Bangkok, Thailand - Asia’s Sport Tourism Gateway - from September 27th - 29th 2011.

WSDE provides the optimum, cost effective platform for exhibitors to meet and carry out face-to-face business with the top international buyers with direct purchasing power.

Take a look at the website for more information.