Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 A Shaky Beginning;
A Shining Finish; A Glowing Future
By Sophia van Norden and Stephen Darling
Vancouver based authors…….
Sophia van Norden, MPS’81 wrote her monograph on the public private partnership used to develop the Village adjacent to Whistler Mountain, the catalyst that set the path to helping win the bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. She is now semi-retired and spends considerable time at the family cabin at Whistler.
Stephen Darling ‘79 is principal of his own firm doing project consulting and corporate directorships. He was Chair of Tourism Vancouver in 2002 and 2003 –and a director for five years prior.
Tourism Vancouver needed a new demand generator. Expo ‘86, had increased the international profile of Vancouver and British Columbia, but the region needed new momentum to further increase visitation. The President and Vice President of the organization Tourism Vancouver decided upon bidding for the Olympic Games as a strategy to further raise the profile of the city. Careful consideration was given to winter vs. summer games. One of the primary reasons winter was chosen was due to the traditional low hotel occupancy and seasonal need. Frequently winter games break even, whereas summer games have traditionally lost money. Independent consultants, government auditors and analysts all cautioned that in the ten years immediately following the games, the successful return on investment from them would most directly be realized through increased tourism and conventions which produce visitor spending and tax revenues. However, they stressed that this would be dependent on implementation of highly strategic marketing and sales efforts in the right markets. While Tourism Vancouver, Tourism British Columbia and the Canadian Tourism Commission, plus other destination marketing organizations, have all created strategic plans that are co-ordinated to focus on high-potential, key markets in the immediate future the old adage “build it and they will come” is just that: old!
In light of the sharp decline in tourism demand, and resulting negative impact upon the travel industry following 9/11/2001 the Vancouver Olympic Games bid of November 2002, nearly failed even before it began. With an upheaval in the City’s political landscape, the leading Mayoral candidate vowed to call a referendum on the Olympic bid if he and his party were elected, as indeed subsequently they were. Tourism Vancouver knew that this was potentially fatal to the bid, as every other Olympic bid referendum in history had been negative, and all but one, (Los Angeles –where primarily private money was used), lost their bid. Despite these conditions, Tourism Vancouver and a few local leaders did an “end-run” and broke a world record by delivering an overwhelming 64.7% YES vote –in support of Vancouver’s Olympic bid. That set the stage for Vancouver’s successful bid and eventually the games themselves.
After competing with Korea and Austria for the 2010 games, the Olympics were awarded to Vancouver in July 2003, with the bid backed by municipal, provincial and federal governments. However, the projected cost of the games created a very skeptical public – most specifically at the local level. Consultant reports primarily focused on incremental tax revenue in future years did nothing to sway voters’ fears of government over-spending, let alone diversion of precious tax dollars away from health care, education and social programs. One prominent local newspaper columnist described the provincial government’s budget and revenue estimates for the Olympics as “Cockamamie voodoo economics.”
In the 7 years leading up to the Games, the Vancouver Organizing Committee (“VANOC”), gained tremendous support and respect through effective leadership, consistent messaging and engaging both the sports and local communities in the planning process. However, despite the strength and success, Murphy’s Law struck shortly before the February 12, 2010 opening, when it became clear that one of the two key alpine venues was short of snow due to the warmest winter on record. That information was quickly picked-up in the world press, and then occurred the tragic accidental death of a Georgian luge team member in a practice run only hours before the opening of the Games. These cast a shadow on the opening ceremonies and seemed only to be reinforced by the malfunction of one of the four columns of a cauldron housing the Olympic flame. For better or worse, the global media apparently missed the ambivalence of local residents. At the start of the games, only 53% of British Columbia residents were somewhat or very excited about the upcoming event but seventeen days later, after the closing ceremonies, this figure went up to 86% of the population, a dramatic jump of 33%.
After all that had gone wrong, what happened to so dramatically influence public opinion over the course of those 17 days? Briefly, we believe that VANOC, had planned well in the years leading up to the games, and then acted quickly to resolve issues as they arose in the early days of the Games.
With the long term forecast of a warm winter, elaborate plans were made to deal with the lack of snow at Cypress Mountain, located in suburban Vancouver and the location of two thirds of Alpine Events. Prior to the competition, snow was trucked in from neighbouring mountains at higher elevations and colder temperatures. To keep the snow on Cypress frozen in 35 – 40 degree Fahrenheit temperatures under sunny skies, pipes containing dry ice were installed under the jumps, bumps and turns that made up the dramatic race courses for the aerial, snowboard and ski cross events. It was small consolation that the site for the most of the Alpine Skiing and Nordic events at Whistler Mountain, 90 minutes north of the city, had ample fresh snow.
The death of Georgian luger, Nadar Kumaritashvili, was something no one could have prepared for. However, the incident was handled with openness, candor and grace by both VANOC’s CEO John Furlong, and the International Olympic Committee. Modifications were made to the luge track and its framework within 24 hours and the luge and bobsled events were held as planned.
One of the key components of the original bid for the 2010 Winter Games was a national program “To lead the development of Canadian sports to achieve sustainable podium performances at the Olympic and Paralympic Games”. Previous Olympic Games in Canada (Montreal 1976, Calgary 1988) were widely criticized as they failed to provide a single gold medal for the host country. The federal government was not going to let it happen a third time. In a most un-Canadian manner, the Own the Podium Program set a goal to place first in the total medal count at the 2010 Olympics. While the final medal count missed its primary goal, Own the Podium was a major success as Canada ranked third overall and achieved the highest total of gold medals (14) in Olympic history.
Then there was the magic of the red mittens, otherwise known as the 2010 Winter Olympics Merchandising Program, with sales beyond any marketer’s wildest dreams. During the height of the Games, the main Olympics merchandise store in downtown Vancouver stayed open 24/7 to accommodate the hundreds of people lined up outside for hours to get in. The most sought after item? A $10 pair of knit red mittens featuring a white maple leaf on the palm and the Olympic Rings on the back along with the words “Vancouver 2010”. They quickly became the most sought after souvenir item of the Games. It didn’t hurt that the mittens were prominently featured on NBC’s Today Show’s Olympic coverage, and that Oprah wore them on her show while interviewing skiing silver medal winner Linsey Vonn. The mittens sold out well before the end of the Games. Three and a half million pairs of Olympic Red Mittens were sold with profits going to development programs for Canadian athletes. Not bad for a country that has only 34 million people and a population that was initially lukewarm about hosting the games.
While less focus was placed on the Paralympic Games –held two weeks after the Olympics, the events were well attended and many sold out. The events achieved many new heights that were celebrated by those with and without physical challenges – many of whom are young Canadians having returned from recent conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere –to resume their passion for sport, teamwork and achieving their personal best goals. Under the Own the Podium program, these athletes worked closely with a team of engineers devoted to the development and improvement of prosthetic limbs, sit-skis, sledge hockey skates, etc. The specialized technology developed for the Paralympic games will go to good use to improve the lives of injured war veterans.
The most unexpected outcome of the Games was the response and enthusiasm from Canadians nationwide. As the “Own the Podium” program kept the gold medals rolling in, people in Vancouver and Whistler took to the streets. The “Cultural Olympiad” – a comprehensive program of Canadian talent in all aspects of the arts was staged to engage visitors and the local community alike. Most entertainment took place in three large outdoor venues downtown plus a similar musical venue in Whistler Village. As the Games progressed, this “coming out” of the population snowballed. Towards the end of the Games, spontaneous crowds were attracted downtown to celebrate, which were estimated at 150,000, and far exceeded predictions.
Organizers and marketing professionals will point out the very successful strengthening of Canada’s “National Brand” as the lasting legacy of the 2010 Winter Olympics. It was a defining national moment that brought us out of our shells and changed our idea of what it is to be Canadian –and the Province’s Olympic television ads “I Believe” became a touching mantra to many.
There were several other benefits to the games that will have both short and long term benefits. There was the oft-mentioned team of volunteers – over 30,000, most of whom were seniors from Western Canada –who literally put our collective ‘best feet forward’ day after day. Engaging in the mega event was something many had looked forward to for years –and it created a link with young people that will last for years to come. A second overlooked benefit was the promotion of winter sports across the country. Like the US, obesity is a growing problem in Canada. The 2010 Olympics were helpful in spreading the message to the younger generation that there is more to winter sport than watching NHL Hockey. In fact, participating in winter sport is very cool as exemplified by new Olympic events such as ski-cross and snow-board cross.
The involvement of four regional West Coast Native Canadian communities has brought an unprecedented new level of understanding, partnership and appreciation, and a new social platform to move forward. One of the west coast elders travelled to Vancouver to see the Host First Nations’ pavilion and experience the games: he went home and told his community that he now felt he could die in peace, knowing that the future generations of their community have a positive future to look forward to – plus friends and partners in the province who will work harmoniously to achieve dreams and more. For British Columbia, this is a major step in setting the stage for the resolution of many disputed land claim contracts signed with various native groups in the 19th century.
It is early days yet, but at time of writing the anecdotal and early numbers are proving most promising. A new US survey found an 11 per-cent post-Games increase in the number of US residents who have a positive impression of Vancouver. More importantly, the survey also found that impressions improved among more affluent Americans. Most significant is that “Vancouver has essentially improved its tourism prospects among a whopping 25 million Americans” according to John Nienstedt, president of California-based Competitive Edge Research and Communications –whose firm undertook the survey. Individual Vancouver hotels report a significant increase in direct bookings for individual leisure visitors this spring, and the new convention inquiries going to Tourism Vancouver reflect similar results indicated in the above survey.
We must mention the hugely successful Torch Relay that stretched ribbons of light, passion, tears of joy and sadness plus a new found nationalism from coast to coast to coast. The longest torch relay in history that started in October 2009 and concluded at the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron on February 12th 2010, it was a magical way of engaging Canadians in the excitement of the Vancouver Games –and bring the true spirit of sports and competition to the smallest and largest communities in the country. That magic of seeing the torch go by will remain with future generations – and remind them of the importance of striving to be one’s best every day –and the spirit of community.
As the Games wrapped up, the banners removed –and the legacy facilities are being adapted to their future uses, it is clear that VANOC under-promised, and over-delivered, through truly visionary leadership, incredibly hard work and passion. They leave behind a legacy that will last many lifetimes.
With Glowing Hearts……..
