Among the hundreds of thousands of spectators and participants pouring through the Vancouver area for the 2010 Winter Olympics, some 10,000 employees of security firm Contemporary Services Corp. are working to make the event run as smoothly as possible.When the Games are over and the athletes go home, most of the CSC's staff will leave as well. But staying behind will be about 420 part-time and full-time employees, along with a new Canadian headquarters for the Los Angeles company.
“We're very excited that we've had the opportunity to leverage the Games in Vancouver … and leave a legacy here,” says Stephen Mirabile, president of CSC's Canadian division.
That legacy is one example of a major promise Olympic organizers have made for the Vancouver Games: economic benefits that last for years after the last medals are handed out.
Vancouver's economy is certain to explode while the Games are on. Hotels have long been sold out and visitors are spending heavily in restaurants and shops. But whether the billions of dollars spent leading up to the Games and the global spotlight on Vancouver translate into a long-term boost for the local economy remains a crucial unknown.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has already started his post-Olympic pitch. He and mayors from across the region are hosting 100 executives from 70 international companies throughout the Games with a clear motive: Get them to open an office in Greater Vancouver.
It's a strategy borrowed from the 2000 Sydney Games.
“Our broad objective as a city is to put Vancouver on a global map,” Mr. Robertson says. He hopes foreign companies involved in growth areas such as clean technology and digital media will set up operations in Vancouver.
"Making Vancouver a bigger international destination will translate into more jobs, better business opportunities, increased tourism dollars and improved infrastructure", officials say.
But creating lasting economic energy from the Olympics is a big challenge, and something few other host cities have pulled off. Economists point to historical data showing Olympic cities see a short-term economic bump after the event, but then ease back into their regular economic routine within months.
Vancouver organizers scoff at such data. To them, it's just research used to create a new and improved post-Olympic business strategy.
What's been missing in past Olympics is an aggressive post-Games push, according to Tourism Vancouver.
“Where there was often a fault was in the post-Olympic messaging,” said Steve Pearce, vice-president of leisure travel and digital marketing for the tourism agency. “Our challenge will be to be in the marketplace afterwards in an aggressive way, remind them of our relevance and ask them for our business.”
CSC's Mr. Mirabile said strong economic growth forecasts for Vancouver in the years ahead – 4.5 per cent this year, 3.8 per cent in 2011 and 4.1 per cent in 2012 – were part of the security company's decision to stick around.
But many economists say Vancouver's future growth numbers, which are above the national average, have more to do with the overall recovery than the Winter Games themselves.
“While the Olympics will be a boost to confidence and the mood of a lot of people in the province, it won't change the future growth trajectory of the economy, longer-term,” said Jock Finlayson, executive vice-president of the Business Council of British Columbia. “That's putting too much weight on the shoulders of the event.”
Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter said a review of past Games in Calgary and Montreal shows a small positive impact on jobs and retail sales “which soon wears off.”
“Perhaps the most significant impact of the Games on the B.C. economy will be the long-term positives from the upgraded infrastructure and from any halo effect of what will essentially be a 17-day advertisement for the region – and that is nearly impossible to quantify.”
The most popular infrastructure projects to come out of the Olympic economic movement include a tripling in size of the convention centre, upgrades to the Sea-to-Sky highway connecting Vancouver to Whistler, and the Canada Line rapid transit route from downtown to the city's airport, the first such link of its kind in Canada.
“Those infrastructure projects are by far the most important things” to come out of the Games, said University of British Columbia Professor James Brander. “That's where the real money is.”
Prof. Brander said the only “bad” project that could lose money is the $1-billion athlete's village, which the city took over after the original financing plan involving a Wall Street hedge fund and a private developer fell through. The city is on the hook for about $675-million, according to the latest estimates from Mayor Robertson.
Vancouver's hot housing market could provide the city with an opportunity to profit when it eventually sells the athlete's village.
But experts don't credit the Winter Olympics for soaring prices of the city's real estate.
A recent study by the University of British Columbia showed Olympic host cities don't experience a real estate boom or bust as a result of the Games.
“While construction employment dramatically increases in the period prior to the Games, house prices are the same as they would be in the absence of the Games,” said Tsur Somerville, one of the study's authors.
According to Mr. Somerville's research, Vancouver's economy will quickly revert back to its regular rhythms once the Games are over.
“We do not find support for the argument of host city backers that the Olympics delivers positive economic benefits, nor of the arguments made by opponents that there is some post-Olympic bust.”
Source: Globe and Mail
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