Business in Vancouver: 2010 Winter Olympics

Richard Chu

Burnaby businesses took initial steps this week to capitalize on the next Winter Olympic opportunity.

About 80 representatives from 40 Burnaby businesses networked with representatives from the 2014 Sochi Olympic organizing committee and the Russian Olympic Committee on Tuesday.

The event was co-organized by the Burnaby Board of Trade and the Canada-Karelia Society aimed at giving local business people direct access to the Russian delegation at the Vancouver Games.

Richard Chu

With the world’s eyes on Vancouver, Canada’s international trade minister admits that more could have been done to promote Canada’s trade and investment advantages to the world during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

“I think all of us underestimated the opportunity that the Olympics presented,” said Peter Van Loan, the federal minister of international trade. “How positive the mood would be here; how much people would enjoy being here. I think, if anything, we wish we would have made bigger promotional efforts here.”

Joel McKay

While Intrawest ULC sorts through its financial woes, its prized Whistler Blackcomb Resort is using the media during the Games as its number one advertising tool.

The Whistler Blackcomb Media Hub in the village’s Westin Hotel is a one-stop shop for journalists looking to tell stories about the mountain.

Intrawest, which owns the resort, has set up the hub so that members of the media can walk in, strap on skis and head up the mountain.

“We knew we would have hundreds if not thousands of journalists coming through town,” said resort spokesperson Christina Moore. “We wanted to find a way to ensure that they had access to the mountain … as well as give us an opportunity to proactively pitch our stories to them.”