ASIAD 2026 in Aichi - Nagoya will apply a rather special accommodation model when not building a concentrated athlete village. Instead, the organizers allocate sports delegations to hotels, module houses and a yacht used as a "floating hotel".
The Serena Costa yacht is expected to welcome thousands of athletes, coaches and officials during the Games. The ship is estimated to be worth about 500 million USD, more than 290m long, has a tonnage of about 114,000 tons, has about 1,500 cabins and a capacity of about 5,000 people.
According to the plan, Serena Costa will anchor at Kinjo Pier, Nagoya port from September 15 to October 6. The cost of renting a boat for 22 days is announced at about 4.5 billion yen, equivalent to about 30 million USD.
The use of yachts instead of a traditional athlete village originated from the unique organizational plan of the host country Japan. The plan to build a concentrated athlete village was initially adjusted in the context of rising construction costs. The organizers then switched to a scattered accommodation model, in which Serena Costa played the role of a "floating athlete village".
It is noteworthy that the yacht is not arranged according to the reputation of the athlete or the ranking of the sports delegations. The allocation is mainly based on the sport, venue and convenience of travel.
Therefore, Vietnamese athletes participating in ASIAD 2026 are likely to be arranged on Serena Costa depending on the sport and the allocation plan of the organizers. This is not a privilege exclusively for a country or group of athletes.
Serena Costa is equipped with a system of private rooms, bathrooms, restaurants, training areas and many common living spaces. With large capacity, this model allows thousands of members of sports delegations to eat, exercise and socialize in one location.
According to information from the Asian Olympic Council (OCA), the module building at Garden Pier mainly serves sports such as water polo, 5x5 basketball, women's football, ju-jitsu, modern five-sport, soft tennis and volleyball.
Meanwhile, athletes competing in Nagoya and surrounding areas in other sports can be assigned to Serena Costa. This group of sports may include athletics, badminton, fencing, judo, karate, wushu, wrestling, weightlifting, gymnastics and archery, depending on the final plan.
This special accommodation model also raises some safety issues. Serena Costa is anchored in the Nagoya port area, which may be affected by storms, heavy rain and storm surges. Therefore, the organizers must develop a disaster response plan, evacuate and provide meteorological information to the sports delegations.
Despite debates about cost and safety, the use of yachts helps Japan reduce the need to build a large-scale athletes' village in a short time. After ASIAD, Serena Costa will leave the port and return to tourism operations.
ASIAD 2026 is expected to have about 11,000 athletes and about 6,000 officials from 45 National and Territorial Olympic Committees. With this scale, the yacht accommodation plan is expected to contribute to solving housing and logistics pressures in Aichi - Nagoya during the Games.
