B.C. politicians hoping 2010 Games will shield them from turbulent economy
The Globe and Mail
Sat 25 Oct 2008
Page: A3
Section: National News
Byline: Rod Mickleburgh
Dateline: VANCOUVER

VANCOUVER -- As part of his rapidly revised financial outlook this week, B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen produced a series of line graphs to illustrate the progress of key economic determinants. The steep plunges by the jagged dark lines resembled something out of the darkest days of the Depression, or the path of someone falling off a cliff. Down, down, down.

No sector of the province's economy expects to be untouched, and that includes the vibrant, labour-intensive tourism industry that has helped see B.C. through some dark days before.

This time, however, there wouldn't seem to be much hope - except for one thing. Every night, before they go to bed, those in the industry, particularly on the Lower Mainland, should get down on their knees and offer prayers of thanks to the 2010 Winter Olympics. It may be their salvation.

"Things are bad and they could get worse," Walter Judas, vice-president of marketing and communications at Tourism Vancouver, said yesterday. "But there's one thing that shields us, and that little thing is called 2010."

In the midst of a 2-per-cent tourist decline in Metro Vancouver this year, and a steeper 5-per-cent drop expected next year, the Olympic Games are already helping the local industry keep its head above water, Mr. Judas said.

Visitors continue to flock to the city on Olympic-related business, including sponsors scouting out places to promote their products during the Games, sports officials and athletes taking part in pre-Olympic competitions and the media, who will be here in force for next month's international Olympic press briefing. "We are seeing all that, and it's generating a lot of travel," Mr. Judas said.

As well, there is the anticipated post-Olympic bonanza after Vancouver and Whistler's exposure to more than a billion television viewers around the world.

Based on prebookings, the first year after the Olympics is shaping up as the biggest convention year ever in Vancouver. "It could certainly be a record, and the Olympics have played a big part in that," Mr. Judas said. "It's been proven in other cities. When you host an Olympic Games, there's a certain cachet in that. People want to experience that city. They are more inclined to visit, and that bodes well for us."

He acknowledged that no one knows what economic conditions or the value of the loonie will be in 2010, but said the Games can't help but be a boost, even if fewer visitors than expected show up.

He pointed to the fact that the Vancouver Organizing Committee long ago sewed up more than 16,000 of the estimated 26,000 hotel rooms available in Metro Vancouver for the Games. "The Olympics is not a panacea for all our tourist ills, but it's a gift to us in so many ways," he said.

Provincial Tourism Minister Bill Bennett is also whistling a happy Olympic tune, despite the grim economic climate. While there may be slightly fewer than the 350,000 visitors projected for the Games, the big plus is what takes place afterwards, he said, once folks around the world have seen B.C. on TV.

"We've got this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sell the whole province, and that post-Olympic tourism opportunity is far more significant than [the number of visitors to the Games themselves]. I don't see that diminishing at all."

In the meantime, said Mr. Bennett, himself a veteran of 21 years in tourism, running hunting and fishing lodges, the industry will have a tough time, but survive.

"I've been through this stuff before, and tourism operators are some of the most innovative, wily business people around. They'll survive. They're like the boxer who gets knocked down a couple of times but doesn't get knocked out.... There are still going to be people with money and people who like to travel."

Jock Finlayson of the Business Council of B.C. said the economic downturn, including the doldrums in local tourism, could last for another year at least. "Tourism is definitely going to be hurt next year," he said.

But unless there is "a terrible global collapse," he said, the Olympics should be okay, since there are always those who will want to attend, no matter the cost or economic uncertainty.

He said it is unclear whether the plummeting Canadian dollar will help draw American visitors to B.C., since the value is fluctuating so wildly and Americans will tend to stay at home as the recession winds its way through their economy.