The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver have worked wonders for Canadian tourism, especially for British Colombia. Having seen the sporting spectacle either on TV or the Internet, many have been persuaded to buy tickets to the world’s second largest country.
When countries are chosen to host major sporting events such as World cups or Olympic games, most begin to celebrate for reasons of national pride. The thought of their country being the focal point of the world’s sporting media for a number of weeks evokes feeling of great joy and excitement. However, the real winners tend to be those involved in the tourism industry. Not only do they bring in revenue during the events; yet make great publicity for the country for years to come. This is particularly true for Canada in the wake of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
As a result of the games British Colombia, where Vancouver is situated, has experienced a 10% increase in overnight stays. The national average increase reached 7%, which is a very impressive figure. The most intriguing results come from surveys relating to tourists visiting Canada thanks to the publicity.
There were 290,000 more Brits than in 2009, indeed almost double, in Canada. Most said that they switched from the phase of considering going to Canada to actually booking a flight. The figure for Australians was 70,000, which brought even more revenue. Staying with the bigger spenders, 91,000 more Germans visited Canada in 2010 after having watched the Olympics and Paralympics in the same year. In many cases, the positive publicity lasts for a number of years after the events take place.