When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that Vancouver was the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, everybody who gathered at a Seattle waterfront hotel was happy to hear the news.
Local civic and business leaders cheered the announcement, reports the Associated Press, that the Olympics will be held for 17 days in Vancouver, just 117 miles to the north, predicting a monumental influx of tourism dollars.
Matt Morrison, executive director of the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region, said 45 per cent of the people who attended the Expo ’86 World’s Fair 17 years ago in Vancouver tracked through the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
“We expect that number will even increase, so we’re going to see an influx of tourism, not just the year of the Olympics, but from now until then and for 20 years after that.
“It’s a huge, huge benefit to the whole region. I really think Whistler is the best location for the Winter Olympics in the world”.
State Rep. Jeff Morris helped sponsor a resolution of support for Vancouver’s 2010 bid in the 2003 Legislature. He was ecstatic about the vote, says the Associated Press.
He called it a huge win for the entire Northwest region. “We’re going to have the economic benefit of tourism and there’s going to be upgrades at the border for border crossings”.
The Bellingham-Whatcom Chamber of Commerce expects restaurants and hotels in the region just south of the Canadian border will see a significant bump in business, said Pat Rowe, the chamber’s operations director. But he added from past experience the area may see more long-term effects in its real estate market.
Following the 1986 World’s Fair in Vancouver the region had an increase in new-home sales by out-of-state buyers, he said, a phenomenon they linked to tourists travelling through on their way to and from Vancouver.
