Events

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics games have been here and gone. With travelers of roughly 250,000 and the busiest airport traffic in Vancouver history in the last decade, one must think we’ve had so much business that we want to turn people away. Although the games themselves were the best possible with great Canadian pride and belief with us taking the most Gold metals at any Winter Olympic games, the local businesses weren’t as happy as they could be.

As I have spoken to some businesses in and around town, restaurants or otherwise, unless they were in the downtown core or close to a key venue, business has as a matter of fact, dropped. When Posh was first forecasting business, we were expecting not a increase nor a drop but “consistent”. However it didn’t take long before we realized that some locals have decided to travel while their kids were out of school for the 2 week Olympic break, tourists were busy lining up for key free venues and different Olympic houses. On the other hand, locals that were around were participating as a volunteer, ticket holder and busy attending attractions around downtown.

So am I for or against the Olympics? I am for the Olympics, the short term impact for restaurants are certainly not as anticipated or as they were hyped to be however during these festivities, it will bring some significant long term results for the city we call our home. Despite that, not all restaurants were impacted negatively. Many restaurants with key advantage points were benefiting from the influx of visitors. After all, these people got to eat right?

So for some restaurants, they won, unfortunately for some, it was a tough battle to keep its loyal customers coming back. Nonetheless, the long term impact for the city which ultimately for restaurants too will certainly be positive.

I think that we have to give credit where credit is due. Restaurants with core locations also pay big rent, for them to benefit from these events makes only equality. Even though sometimes we see this as an unfair advantage, you get what you put in. Even though the games didn’t bring the business volume that most businesses and restaurants want, it has built an infrastructure which allows our city to be put on the global stage. During that time, Richmond probably has seen the greatest positive impact with the O’Zone, Richmond Olympic Oval and to be able to showcase its Asian Culinary scene. At the end of the day, the exposure during these short two weeks, will bring credit to Vancouver as the best place to travel and live.

So of course, I support the Olympics, for their long term impacts to Posh and to the city.