The result was more than 7,000 room night bookings, and a multimillion-dollar economic impact for the town of nearly 10,000 residents.

“Many are looking for a West Coast feel as well as a Games experience. With the venue development, Whistler can offer the Games experience,” says Patricia Westerholm, corporate and member communications specialist for Tourism Whistler.

Taylor agrees, adding that the expectation from many planners and delegates leading up to the 16-day competition is for that Olympic excitement to translate into their respective meetings and events.

“We’re definitely seeing more planners wanting to incorporate an Olympic feel to their meeting or event,” she says. “This might be through the themes addressed in the presentations or the keynote speakers themselves, or more literally through using Olympic and Paralympic venues, trying out Olympic sports, or themed gala events.”

Similar results are being seen elsewhere in B.C., too. In Nanaimo, officials are anticipating increased meeting and event traffic in the months leading up to the Games, as well as in the weeks following its conclusion.

Denise Tacon, general manager for Vancouver Island Conference Centre, credits that, in part, to displaced meeting business from the Vancouver and Whistler areas due to volume of people and meeting space availability.

She also points to increased awareness of Nanaimo -- a vibrant town of more than 78,000 people that’s about 110 kilometres northwest of Victoria, and 55 kilometres west of Vancouver -- as a versatile, and accessible meeting destination.

“There will be impact and spillover to the island due to easy-access options from harbor to harbor flights as well as two ferry terminal options,” says Tacon, also noting that Nanaimo is one of 15 B.C. communities that will be showcased as part of a six-month awareness campaign at the Vancouver Airport.

“Clients are seeking something different when they choose Nanaimo. They want a ‘getaway-feel’ destination that appeals to the splendor in nature, island culture and friendliness, coinciding with upscale facilities that speak professionalism and quality of product.”

In Vancouver, where the local meetings and events industry generates more than $1 billion annually in economic activity, the Games’ long-term impact is already becoming apparent.

“2010 and 2011 are shaping up to be record convention years for Vancouver and much of that can be attributed to groups wanting to be in Vancouver right after the Olympics.  . . as an attendance-building strategy for their events,” says Claire Smith, vice-president of sales and marketing for the Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC).

That’s good news for the VCC, which has undergone extensive renovations leading up to the Olympics. The harbor-front facility -- world-famous thanks in part to its “living roof” -- recently tripled its capacity with the addition of a new West Building for a combined 473,532 square feet of pre-function, meeting, exhibition and ballroom space.
 
The centre, which will serve as the broadcast centre for the Olympics and Paralympics, has also been designed as a series of modules, giving it the ability to hold multiple simultaneous events, each with their own separate access and function spaces.

“Vancouver will never be quite the same after 2010,” says Smith. “We will have the spectacular new West Building and the fully renovated East Building fully operational.”
    
The VCC is not alone. Once the Olympic torch is officially passed, meetings and events coming to Vancouver and Whistler will enjoy a number of world-class facilities -- from Canada Hockey Place and UBC Thunderbird Arena in Vancouver to alpine and sliding facilities in Whistler.

The Whistler Sliding Centre, for example, offers delegates a once-in-a-lifetime meeting experience, mere footsteps from where the world’s best lugers, bobsleigh teams and skeleton racers will face off for Olympic gold.
 
The $104-million facility, which can accommodate 12,000 spectators, offers everything from intimate meetings some 150 metres above ground at the top of its world-renowned track, to sit-down receptions set amid a mountain backdrop in the track lodge.

Canada Hockey Place (GM Place outside of the Olympics), meanwhile, will soon be hallowed ground as the world’s top men’s and women’s hockey players vie for Olympic immortality.

In the meantime, the facility, home to the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, offers everything from hockey-inspired facilities high above the action to theatre-style meetings for nearly 1,500 delegates.

One of the more unique Olympic legacies left to planners and delegates just might be the groundbreaking Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler.

The three-storey, 30,400-square-foot facility, which is located on six forested acres along the majestic Fitzsimmons Creek, came to life through the partnerships forged in preparing to host the world during the Games, says Westerholm.
 
Designed to evoke the form of a Squamish Longhouse and Lil’wat Istken (earthen dwelling), it features a Great Hall that reveals spectacular mountain and forest views through curved 220-foot glass-plank walls, as well as hand-carved cedar welcome figures, pictograph-embossed boulders, massive spindle whorls and a series of cedar canoes -- many of which are suspended from the hall’s 22-foot high ceilings.

The centre also features specialized meeting spaces, such as a ‘Class A’ museum, 80-seat multimedia theatre, 220-foot cedar deck overlooking Blackcomb Mountain and Ístken Hall, a circular glass room with natural cedar interior as well as a generous patio and barbeque space.

The Paralympic Games, meanwhile, are making their own mark on the local meetings and events scene as venues across the province continue to upgrade their facilities in order to offer unprecedented disability access.

For example, the Paralympics have already spawned an accessibility rating system that will apply to tourism and hospitality providers, notes Taylor.

The rating system is currently underway, and once complete, will allow planners to search for accessible hotels, restaurants and attractions.

“Vancouver is already recognized as an extremely accessible destination, so hosting the Paralympics further builds on this reputation,” says Taylor.

In Whistler, where more than 90 percent of the Paralympic competitions will be held, officials have signed an agreement with the Whistler for the Disabled Society that will equip sales agents with the tools to provide accurate information and answer questions for visitors with disabilities.

“This agreement is a significant step toward promoting and delivering Whistler's promise as an exciting and inclusive destination for travelers with disabilities,” says Arlene Schieven, vice-president of marketing for Tourism Whistler.

“As a mountain destination focused on growing visitation, continually enhancing our accessibility is critical to our success.”

That includes accessibility, year-round. While the Games will highlight Vancouver and Whistler as world-class winter destination, it’s also giving local officials the opportunity to shed some light on B.C. as a four-season destination.

“Having the eyes of the world on us and the camera's rolling to show it as it really is, is an amazing opportunity to showcase Vancouver as a world-class, year-round destination,” says Smith. “Vancouver is a remarkable value for meetings in the winter, and with the mountains and skiing at our doorstep, you can easily combine the best of both worlds.”

The Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, for example, offer a relatively mild climate year-round, giving delegates plenty of options outside of the boardroom -- from hiking and biking to white-water rafting, golfing and sailing.

And in many months, seasonal disparities in neighboring communities -- such as Vancouver and Whistler -- add to that activity list. Where else can you ski and surf on the same day?

“B.C.’s exposure to the world will definitely have a positive impact on how our province is viewed,” says Tacon. “The Olympics will create an interest in alternate B.C. destinations for meeting planners and delegates where consideration may have not been before. It’s already helping groups realize that they can meet here at any time of the year.”
 

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