Tourism 2010 Resource Centre

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Games Performance Propels Tourism Forward

The gold rush by Canada's athletes at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games set a new record for a host nation.

B.C.’s tourism industry also enjoyed a performance of a lifetime, scoring top marks by all indicators for its coordinated marketing approach to maximize the benefits of hosting an Olympic Games.

The 2010 Tourism Consortium – comprising a “Dream Team” of tourism professionals from Tourism British Columbia (now the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts), the Canadian Tourism Commission, Tourism Vancouver, Tourism Whistler and Tourism Richmond – worked closely with industry across the province to prepare our destination to maximize the tourism benefits from hosting the 2010 Winter Games.

It has been seven years since the exciting day in Prague when International Olympic Committee president Jacque Rogge announced that British Columbia, Canada would host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

“That announcement in Prague set the wheels in motion for what will go down in the record books as the best tourism marketed Olympic Winter Games ever hosted,” says Kevin Krueger, Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts.

“Seven years of planning culminated in a Games-time performance that will propel the province’s tourism industry forward on a renewed trajectory of growth.”

During the Games themselves, there were more than 2 million visits to HelloBC.com (North America) in February alone (up 590% from same time the previous year) and nearly 80,000 North American consumers entered the “You Gotta Be Here” contest yielding new travel prospects for ongoing follow-up.

The BC Canada pavilion and the adjacent Robson Square were a hub of Games-time activity. Over 1.5 million people visited Robson Square (averaging 75,000 – 100,000 every day) to take in the festivities. The Robson Square Zipline was a top draw, with more than 700 people a day zooming overhead, including lots of media beaming their experience around the world.

Attendance at the BC Canada pavilion operated at capacity with more than 80,000 visitors checking out the exhibitions showcasing B.C. business and innovations.

Robson Square was also the location of the BC Media Centre serving over 2,000 domestic and international media covering the Games. Working out of the centre and using Robson Square as a backdrop, media coverage profiled B.C. extensively through shows like Oprah, NBC News, and the Today Show. The Today Show alone reaches almost 5 million viewers a day.

“While it is still early going, these and other Games-time results are a positive sign of things to come,” says Raymond Chan, Assistant Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts and Chair of the 2010 Tourism Consortium.

“I think the real positive is the fact that a consortium of host tourism destinations was formed early on in our Games planning to coordinate all our marketing and visitor servicing activities,” he adds. “We were able to offer one-stop service on tourism initiatives to VANOC, Games sponsors and international host broadcasters. This created many wins for our industry.”

According to Visa, spending by international visitors on Visa cards at the Games and in British Columbia was over US$115 million during the 17 days of the Games, nearly double the spending during the same period last year. Accommodation, travel, restaurant, entertainment and retail sales accounted for more than 92 percent of the transactions during the Games in B.C.

Travel trade marketing activities yielded important gains. Thirty-one senior representatives from key international markets as well as 13 representatives from receptive tour operators based in Canada were hosted in B.C. Already, companies are reporting an increase in plans for packages post-Games and a jump in consumer interest in B.C. travel options.

Media coverage broadcast the face of Super, Natural British Columbia, our people and communities into just about living room in every market that matters for B.C.’s tourism industry.

Perhaps most importantly, visitors themselves were overwhelmingly very satisfied with their Olympic experience, with 97% rating their overall experience as “Good” or “Excellent”.

The 2010 Winter Games was the ultimate litmus test for B.C.’s visitor servicing network. Consistency in branding and training, whether at a visitor centre in Merritt or Whistler, translated into a team of professional, courteous and knowledgeable visitor servicing staff.

A look at the stats proves that visitor counsellors were extremely busy throughout the Games. In total, 262,818 visitors - 60 per cent of which were from out of town - passed through the British Columbia Visitor Centres at Peace Arch and the Vancouver International Airport, the 16 temporary information kiosks set up in Richmond, Vancouver and Whistler, and the community visitors centres in Vancouver and the Vancouver, Coast and Mountains region.

Twenty-six per cent of visitors came from the United States, 24 per cent from B.C., 18 per cent from Canada, four per cent from Germany, three per cent from the United Kingdom and the remainder from elsewhere in Europe and Asia.

The 16 temporary visitor servicing kiosks set up at high traffic areas were a big hit with Games visitors and provided info to tourists when they needed it, where they needed it.

Staff at the four kiosks in Whistler, eight in Vancouver, three in Richmond and one in West Vancouver, served a total of 182,653 visitors, with the kiosk situated next to the Vancouver Art Gallery seeing the most traffic.

Following the Games, 2010 Tourism Consortium partners Tourism Vancouver, Tourism Whistler and Tourism Richmond were each given one kiosk in recognition of their enormous contributions made to the Games. They have plans to use the kiosks in their ongoing visitor servicing plans.