John Furlong, Chief Executive Officer of Vancouver 2010, in San Francisco this week to help re-open a new Canadian consulate, met with Mayor Gavin Newsom. He said San Francisco has the characteristics that appeal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). And he had some advice for Newsom should San Francisco be named the U.S. candidate bidding for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
He told the Mayor that in 1996 when Vancouver announced it was bidding for the 2014 Winter Games, he estimates his organizers attended 1,500 community meetings. He said they dropped in on coffee klatches, bingo games and church socials to assure those Vancouverites worried about inconvenience from crowds and construction that the Games could generate jobs and enrich British Columbia with “sparkling” sports facilities for long-term community use and upgrades of basic infrastructure such as roads and bridges.
Furlong said a construction boom has helped lift British Columbia’s economy out of recession.
Furlong said, “San Francisco is on everyone’s top 10 list. If they haven’t been here, they want to see it. It has a wonderful reputation. Once you come here you never forget. This is a splendid place”.
Michele McKenzie, president and CEO of the Canadian Tourism Commission, also in San Francisco for the event said Canada hopes for a windfall from tourists, especially visitors from California, during the Vancouver 2010 Games.
Furlong said San Francisco can adopt some of the marketing tactics Vancouver took for the 2010 Winter Games to land the 2016 Games, emphasizing that San Francisco’s cosmopolitan character is an important card to play.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle Furlong said the city should showcase the Bay Area’s international character, and emphasize the diversity of its population to underscore the range of non-Olympic attractions for visitors around the world. He said it was just as important as having good weather and high-quality sporting facilities in persuading international Olympic officials to bless your bid.
He told Newsom not to worry about facilities and transportation, but instead offer a compelling vision that separates San Francisco from its competitors. “You have to show ‘why us and not them’”.
Furlong also dismissed the idea that the IOC wouldn’t return to the West Coast six years after the Vancouver Games, reports the Mercury News. “The timing is good”, he said for the Summer Games returning to the United States.
