Vancouver 2010: Canada's Olympic Games

(Originally published in TOURISM)

John Furlong's enthusiasm for the vision of the Vancouver 2010 Games is compelling and evident after only a few moments of conversation. Furlong is CEO of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), and he firmly believes the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver are Canada’s Games, as well as the best news in years for Canada's tourism industry:

“A long time ago when we were bidding for the Games and trying to determine where we might find our 'edge', it crossed our mind that Canada is one of the most powerful tourism brands in the world. Typically, when organizations bid for the games they tend to bid with the interest of their community or their local region in mind. With the recent Winter Games in Torino, it was very much a local story. The same happened in Salt Lake City when the Games were staged there. Yes, people saw the Games across the continent, but they weren’t really set up to be a nation builder.

“We felt that to be successful, we had to communicate this as an opportunity for the Games to be one of those moments in time when an entire country could come together. It would be one of those rare opportunities that come along once in a generation or two, to touch every Canadian. We felt the Games should resonate in every home, be spoken about at the kitchen table, and affect businesses, communities, villages, wherever they are in the country.”

Winning the bid for the 2010 Winter Games was one thing, but delivering on the promise in areas like economic benefits is where the real work begins. How do the Games gel into a real national tourism revenue generation machine? For Furlong, it’s a no‑brainer:

“The Olympic and Paralympic Games are one of the most powerful communication vehicles on the planet. We will talk to more than three billion people over the life of the project. What better way to show the world what a wonderful destination Canada is, why Canadians are special, what tremendous capacity this country has – why it is a great place to visit, why it is safe to be here and why Canada 'works'. All the wonderful mysteries of the country can be unravelled through the power of the Games."

Furlong feels this is probably the most significant leveraging opportunity the industry will have for some time, and points out that, in the past, some countries have been slow to realize the kind of power they are working with. He provides, as one example of how it can work for Canada, the leveraging power of the torch relay:

“It allows you to showcase all the regions of the country. It will be followed day in and day out. It will be on television every night. Every part of the country will be involved. So it is a chance to communicate with Canadians about the great value of Canada; about the spectacle and the depth of this country. And it is a great opportunity for Canada to talk to the whole world, communicating about the wonderful place this is." He continues, "I am not a tourism scientist, but it seems to me that if you could communicate an extremely positive message about how and why a country works, it is not a stretch to think that people might just be inclined to get up and go there. I just can’t imagine a more powerful tool to do that than the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Furlong also believes in the ability of the Games to influence perceptions within the country and abroad by showcasing the cultural commonwealth of Canada:

“I remember that, during the bid, Korea was a finalist against Vancouver, and they were talking about a 5,000‑year old culture. When we were competing against Austria, they were talking about the contributions of Mozart and others to culture and the arts. We were there and thought about Canada’s culture as the culture of the 21^st century – the culture of the future. We are the people of the world; we are building a new culture, this extraordinarily positive identity here. Obviously this event will be seen as largely delivered by people who live here in Vancouver, and they will see Canada through a West Coast prism, but the fact remains this is a really good opportunity for Canadians to be more exposed to the world. I think for us not to have tagged this as Canada’s Games would have been a big mistake.”

Furlong's message to Canada’s tourism stakeholders couldn’t be clearer. He says that tourism has to realize things are moving very quickly, and the door is wide open for everybody to “get on the train”, to be part of it, and to help grow it:

"Anyone who lets this go by and does not attempt to take advantage of the fact we are going to talk directly to two‑thirds of the planet is making a very big error. It is a tremendous opportunity to talk about ourselves. I understand the most visited regions of the world are Olympic regions, so if we tell the right story, if the Games are a great success, if we keep our promise and the Games resonate in the way they should, I think the legacy will live on.”

And one of these legacies, Furlong believes, will be the partnerships created as a result of the Games.

“It is how we work together. This is not about a few organizers in one community. This is about pulling the best of Canada together and converting that into the type of genesis that occurs when people get together and all pull in the same direction.”

Developing this synergy is the VANOC CEO's current focus. He says he is reminded everyday that leadership hinges more often on one’s ability to listen and learn than anything else.

“You have no credibility unless you show up. You have to show up. We could be forgiven if we stayed at home in Vancouver, put our heads down and just did the job that has to be done but the fact is, these can’t be Canada’s Games unless the rest of the country is engaged. We have been in every province in Canada this year. People are well aware of the power of the Games, and we have said from the day we started that if we had to communicate to Canadians one at a time, we were prepared to do that. And the Organizing Committee cannot do it alone so the relationships we have with the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), for example, and (other) tourism marketing organizations are so important. This is not a job that can be done in one city, by one agency."

“I don’t know of an agency that is better equipped to really tell the story of Canada than the CTC. The CTC carries this country’s brand in its hands. I hope the CTC decides that Canada’s Games are a major piece of its own platform over the coming years. And I do believe this is where the CTC is headed; certainly it is the right agency to do that.”