Tourism 2010 Resource Centre

Legacy of Games Earns Whistler a Place in Elite Group of Resorts

Chamonix, St.Moritz, Innsbruck, and now Whistler.

Already a world-class destination in its own right, Whistler now joins a select group of international resorts with superstar status as a host venue for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

“Hosting the world brings with it many challenges and opportunities. Perhaps the greatest opportunity before us is the vast array of legacies brought about before, during and after the Winter Games,” said Arlene Schieven, Vice President of Marketing with Tourism Whistler.

With more than $1 billion in tourist spending generated annually in Whistler, the contribution to the province’s tourism sector is substantial – and tourism legacies serve to enable the resort’s economic engine to contribute further to the province’s goal of doubling British Columbia’s tourism revenues by 2015.

“As the Host Mountain Resort for the 2010 Winter Games, the potential economic benefits for Whistler are extraordinary,” said Rick Clare, owner of Whistler’s Foto Source and chair of the Tourism Whistler Board of Directors.

“In the lead up to the Games, the international profile of Whistler has been growing steadily and during February and March of 2010 we’ll have the spotlight of the world on our proud resort town. The lasting post-Games economic benefit for individual business owners – and as a resort community – will come from leveraging the 2010 legacies and continuing to deliver exceptional value and guest experience. If we do this, we’ll be able to convert 27 days of the Games into more than 27 years of tourism growth,” says Clare.

Schieven also takes a long-term view when analysing the benefits, and opportunities, that come from hosting the Games. Certainly, in the short term there is the international awareness and media exposure that would otherwise be unachievable (an estimated television audience of 3 billion!). But Schieven points to many other lasting legacies of the Games that, arguably, will be even more important to the sustainability and long-term success of the resort.

“The Games will create housing for Whistler residents in the Athletes’ Village post-Games, enhanced access through the accelerated launch of the Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project and the introduction of a state-of-the-art facility showcasing local First Nations culture that will go a long way towards strengthening the infrastructure and community environment required to grow tourism,” she says.

Some of the other key tourism legacies of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Whistler include:

· Whistler Olympic Park
· Whistler Sliding Centre
· Whistler Celebration Plaza
· Whistler Live Sites program

Whistler is, in fact, already benefiting from 2010 legacies. Through exceptional planning, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has succeeded in completing all mountain competition venues two years prior to the Games – a first in the history of the Winter Games – bringing with it real and tangible tourism legacies for the community of Whistler and its more than two million annual visitors.

The Whistler Olympic Park, site of the 2010 Nordic events, opened in December and has recently hosted the FIS Cup and the FIS Continental Cup for ski jumping, the Canadian National Cross-Country Championships and the Canadian Biathlon Championships. This $120 million facility has already welcomed more than 10,000 recreational skiers in its inaugural winter season.

A $27 million investment into enhancements to the alpine venue at Whistler Creekside has already served to improve the guest experience of recreational skiers and riders and will create new opportunities as a site for future international competitions and training events.

The new Whistler Sliding Centre will provide a high-performance competition centre post-Games and will introduce sliding sports to the resort’s many visitors. The $105 million facility will be one of four sliding centres in North America, one of only 15 in the world, and will become a facility for sport development and world-calibre events. Development of a public sliding activity for summer and winter is being considered and the facility may also offer unique group meeting space opportunities following the Winter Games.

A shared legacy project of the 2010 Games, the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre is scheduled to open its doors in the summer of 2008. This stunning new facility reflects an unprecedented cooperative venture between the Squamish and Lil’wat First Nations and a unique opportunity to share their living cultures with the world.

Tourism legacies for Whistler will also be enjoyed through the creation of a Celebration Plaza in Whistler Village. As the main hub for the $20 million Live Sites program – the entertainment programming in Whistler throughout the 2010 Winter Games – the plaza is expected to break ground this spring.

“During the Games the plaza will be the stage for everything from film, performing arts, concerts, and sport demonstrations, to big screen broadcasts of competitions, nightly medals presentations, and the Closing Ceremony for the Paralympic Winter Games,” says Schieven.

Following 2010, Celebration Plaza will provide a future location for events, animation and entertainment – while ensuring a long-term tangible connection to the Winter Games in the years to come.

As the host of approximately 90 per cent of the Paralympic events in 2010, Schieven is proud of the opportunities this brings to build substantially on the resort’s international reputation as an accessible destination – and grow visitation from the disabled community.

“Whistler will have the opportunity to build upon its accessibility initiatives, showcase its exceptional adaptive sports programming and establish itself as the world’s premier destination for athletes with disabilities to compete and train,” she says.

As a host of the Paralympic competitions, the resort also recognizes it has a heightened responsibility to continue providing people from around the world – from all ranges of ability – with an opportunity to have a seamless resort experience that’s based not only on accessibility but inclusiveness.

“Whistler was built on a dream, and as many a local will tell you, this town was born for the Games,” says Schieven.

Photo credit: Toshi Kawano