Once in a Lifetime Opportunity

The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games – the biggest winter sporting and cultural events in the world – are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Whistler. To take full advantage, we need to understand the opportunities, assess the risks, and develop and deliver plans that allow us to leverage the Games.

The Games provide great opportunity. And with any great opportunity comes great responsibility. In planning and preparing for the delivery of the 2010 Winter Games and the ensuing legacies, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) identified 11 key strategic objectives that provide the basis for what must be achieved and how it can be achieved.

“The 2002 Winter Games were an economic launch for the state that will be measured in decades, not months or years.”

— Governor Leavitt of Salt Lake City

As Host Mountain Resort, we have the opportunity – and responsibility – to represent all British Columbians and Canadians. We must ensure the Games reflect our values, culture and goals, and celebrate the spectacular beauty and majesty of our natural surroundings.

Whistler's Guiding Principles for the Games

In July 2001, Whistler council adopted Whistler's Guiding Principles for Involvement in the Bid for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. These were the conditions under which Whistler would support the Games, and are used to guide our decisions through the process to help deliver the Games.

• Be consistent with and guided by Whistler 2020 – Moving Toward a Sustainable Future, the Comprehensive Sustainability Plan.
• Be proactive in integrating sustainability considerations throughout the planning and staging of the Games.
• Be ethical and transparent.
• Recognize the municipality as a partner in the planning and staging of the Games.
• Operate the Games within a balanced budget.
• Ensure that an endowment fund is created that is sufficient to support the ongoing operation of the Nordic and sliding centres post Games.
• Ensure limited financial exposure to the municipality.
• Respect the character of the resort community.
• Create legacies that are of lasting value to Whistler residents, businesses and the community.
• Engage in open and timely communication.
• Work collaboratively to help create successful Games.

BENEFITS FROM OTHER OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES

• During the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, 6,000 hours of prime-time TV coverage was broadcast around the world presenting Japanese culture, communities and business to the rest of the world.
• Following the 2000 Summer Games, Australia quantified the value of its Games benefits at $6.1 billion worth of international business exposure and profile for Sydney, New South Wales and Australia.
• During the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, the city was seen by 2.1 billion TV viewers and, in the five years following the Games, hosted 17 major sporting events and cites a larger and stronger economy, as well as overwhelming civic pride resulting from the experience.
• Beijing has anticipated that the 2008 Summer Games will increase the world's awareness of the city, in both investment and tourism. The number of headquarters for multi-national companies and other enterprises multiplied from the time the city started its Olympic Games preparations, while GDP has climbed and the city has benefited from new infrastructure, jobs and better living standards.