This month’s Winter Olympics puts Canada in the spotlight. Michelle Mannion reveals how host city Vancouver has prepared and the long-term benefits for business travellers
While London prepares to host the Olympics in 2012, it would do well to pay attention to how Vancouver has planned for its own moment in the sun (or snow).
This month, the Canadian city hosts the Winter Olympics in partnership with the mountain resort of Whistler. Some 350,000 people will converge on the area to cheer on participants in everything from ski jumping and snowboarding to curling and cross-country skiing. It’s a big undertaking, and big business for Canada – it has been estimated that the games could generate at least C$2 billion (£1.2 billion) for the economy.
Unusually, there has been no race to the finish line to be ready – most sporting venues were completed well in advance, as were key infrastructure improvements that will benefit not only visitors during the games but travellers to the city for years to come. And if you’re doing business here, facilities have never been in such good shape.
“The investment in the city from an infrastructure point of view has been tremendous,” says Ed Brea, general manager of the Shangri-La, one of the newest hotels in the city. “And the exposure we’ll get will really help us. I’m convinced the city is one of the best-kept secrets on the West Coast.”
While many of the projects were planned before the city won its Olympics bid, the games certainly acted as a catalyst for getting them ready on time. One of the first things business travellers will note is that Vancouver now has an airport-downtown rail link. Completed last August, the C$2 billion Canada Line runs from Vancouver International airport to the city centre in about 25 minutes, with single fares starting from a bargain C$2.50 (£1.50). It’s a well needed facility that has pleased everyone except the city’s taxi drivers, who previously held something of a monopoly on airport transfers, charging in the region of C$35 (£21) for the privilege.
“The Canada Line has been a godsend for me as a commuter as well as for the city and our guests,” says Blair Hirtle, sales co-ordinator for the Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel. “You can get downtown so quickly. When the Olympics were on the table a few years ago, it was a real push for the train to happen.”
Visitors continuing on to Whistler will also find their route much easier. About C$600 million (£360 million) has been spent on improving the Sea to Sky highway that connects the resort to Vancouver, making the road safer and wider, and cutting down the journey to just over two hours rather than two and a half.
To host the games, Vancouver largely chose to improve the sports venues it already had rather than build new ones. For example, BC Place Stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, has upgraded its seating, acoustics and accessibility.
Where it has splashed out – and where business travellers will really feel the benefits – is on a state-of-the-art extension to its Convention Centre. Occupying a prime waterfront spot with views of the North Shore Mountains, the new West building opened last April, while the older East building has been upgraded, with the costs running to C$883 million (£530 million). The expansion has tripled the existing meetings capability, with the two buildings now providing 46,450 sqm of space, including a 5,110 sqm ballroom.
And not surprisingly for the city where Greenpeace was formed, the new building has been designed to be as eco-friendly as possible. It has been constructed to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold standard and is expected to be carbon neutral by the end of 2010. One of its standout features is its 2.5 hectare living roof, which features 400,000 indigenous plants and grasses, and it even has a marine habitat built into its foundations, as 40 per cent of the centre is built over the harbour.
“Everyone who’s been through the new building has been overwhelmed by it – it’s a fantastic space and has taken us to a new level,” says Kim Grecia, marketing manager of the Vancouver Convention Centre. “We’re forecasting 2011-2012 to be the strongest year for conventions the city has seen.”
When I visited, the West building was closed in preparation for its role as the international broadcast centre for the Olympics (the East building will house the press centre). Some 10,000 media representatives from around the world will pass through the Convention Centre’s doors, providing invaluable coverage. As Brea at the Shangri-La says: “How could you get better exposure as a venue than by having all the media there? It’s quite a coup for them.”
One of the other knock-on effects of the city’s boosted profile is the increased confidence it generates. Companies are encouraged to set up business here and to choose Vancouver for their events. Susan Iris is vice-president of strategic initiatives and the 2010 Winter Games for the Canadian Tourism Commission. She says: “It takes a certain level of knowledge to host an event of this size, and that’s what it’s going to leave for the business traveller – when you look at how complex it is to plan meetings and conventions, a destination that has all that knowledge is an advantage to the organiser. It puts you on a different playing field. When your city has to move 350,000 people, all of that knowledge and best practice will be a long-term legacy.”
The city’s hotel scene has also experienced a boost. Apart from the Shangri-La, which opened in January last year (see review, right), there have been a handful of new openings. The Loden, a 77-room boutique property on Coal Harbour, opened in autumn 2008, while L’Hermitage, a 60-room luxury hotel located downtown, is open since summer 2008.
On a larger scale, the 377-room Fairmont Pacific Rim was due to open on January 25, just in time for the games. The biggest hotel to open in Vancouver in recent years, it is connected to the Convention Centre via an underground walkway and has 1,400 sqm of meeting space, a rooftop pool, a spa, three dining venues, and super mountain views.
Other hotels have prepared for the impending influx by sprucing up. These include the St Regis – open since 1916, it reopened in December 2008 after a C$11 million (£6.6m) revamp. The 65-room downtown property (not part of Starwood Hotels and Resorts) offers packages geared towards business travellers – rates include cooked-to-order breakfast, mineral water and internet access. The Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver also completed a two-year C$20 million (£12 million) renovation last year. Next up is the reopening of the historic Hotel Georgia under the management of Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, scheduled for early next year.
So people returning to Vancouver after a spell away will find much has changed – but ultimately it’s the city’s natural advantages that bring the most benefit to travellers. With its compact grid system, huge park, and water on almost all sides, you are never more than a short walk from nature, and in half an hour you can be in the mountains – although you may want to watch out for people careering down them this month.
? Visit britishcolumbia.travel; tourismvancouver.com; vancouver2010.com
