( CNN ) -- The International Olympic Committee chose Pyeongchang , South Korea , Wednesday to host the 2018 Olympic Winter Games . The other two bid cities were Munich , Germany , and Annecy , France . Pyeongchang narrowly failed in its bids for 2010 and 2014 , losing by three votes to Vancouver , Canada , for last year 's event and by four votes to Sochi , Russia , for the 2014 event . South Korea has never hosted the Winter Games , though the capital city of Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Games . France has hosted three editions of the Winter Olympics , most recently in 1992 in Albertville . Munich would have been the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics . The city attracted the Summer Games in 1972 . Representatives from the three cities made their cases to committee members in Durban , South Africa Wednesday . The proposed date for the festival of sport to begin is February 9 , 2018 . The Games will take place across 13 venues , with six of those to be constructed of the next seven years . Pyeongchang will become the first Asian city outside of Japan to play host to the Winter Games and hopes to become a center for Winter sports once the event is over . The delegation representing Pyeongchang included Lee Myung-Bak , president of South Korea , 2010 figure skating gold medalist Kim Yu-Na and the former governor of Gangwon province -- where the city is located -- Kim Jin-Seun .
Pyeongchang has been chosen as the host for the 2018 Winter Olympics . The South Korean city was chosen ahead of Munich in Germany and Annecy in France . It is expected to be a popular destination with athletes from around the world, who will compete at the games.