Even though the clock is ticking, there’s still time to plan an Olympic programme. By Allan Lynch, March/April 2009

Olympic Fans

With ten months to go before the Winter Games open in Vancouver, the good news is that it’s not too late to arrange an Olympic programme. However, the longer you wait, the tighter your options, according to Mark Lewis, president of Jet Set Sports, the company the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) has entrusted as the official hospitality package sponsor.

Lewis, whose company has offices in New Jersey, Toronto and Vancouver, says “Jet Set provides an all-in solution; so we would provide not just the tickets, but the hotel room, meals, hospitality areas, host/hostess support and the local transportation in Vancouver. So we really provide a turn-key service for those kinds of business and groups looking to entertain VIP guests.”

So, how big can a programme go, this late? “Fairly large still. Maybe they won’t be able to attend the gold medal hockey game, but with the Olympics on for an 18-day period, we can still handle groups from a few couples to as large as 1,000 people.”

And how late can you plan? Lewis laughs, “For the Beijing Games we had a company call us seven days after the Olympics started. So we’re working right up to the Closing Ceremony. Obviously, as time goes by, the choices become more restricted, but the ideal time is right now, through August.”

For those do-it-yourselfers, a second phase of ticket sales will take place in June. According to Jason Macnaughton, a media relations specialist with VANOC, “There will be a second phase, because we haven’t finalized the venue configurations yet. We held back a contingency of 10 per cent for each venue, and once we have a better idea of what broadcast positions will be and seat kills and that kind of thing, then we’ll be able to release the contingencies.”

However, another potential avenue for accessing group ticket blocks is as Friends of the Games. These are available for companies which, while not investing in a full Games sponsorship, have a product or service VANOC could use.

The other challenges will be finding accommodations and transportation. According to Richard Yore, Tourism Vancouver’s director of sales, meetings and conventions, the Olympic time frame (Feb. 12 to 28, 2010) is in a state of flux. “At present, a large block of hotel rooms is on hold by VANOC for their sponsors and IOC family. August is the date for the Olympic corporate sponsors to actually confirm to VANOC and pay for their required rooms in advance and then release any rooms back to VANOC.”

While some groups are holding their breath, waiting to see if rooms are released, Vancouver-based Prime Strategies’ president Jonathan Buchwald is less optimistic. “It depends on what the consumption of those rooms are. If people fully utilize their room blocks, there won’t be any rooms.” Buchwald says, “There is excess demand, compared to capacity. And therefore even if (a sponsor like) General Motors or Nortel doesn’t use it, will VANOC have somebody who needs it? It is reasonably likely.”

Part of that demand is accommodating 3,000 bus drivers coming to Vancouver to shuttle visitors, athletes and officials around. Buchwald says, “In many cases, nobody has booked rooms for them.” So his team, seizing the opportunity, is now working to find accommodations for these and other Games support staff.

Shannon Cooper, CMP, senior operations manager at Vancouver-based TBA Global Canada, warns, “Local chartered transportation is very expensive and limited.” With the failure of several local companies, planners have had to go outside Vancouver’s Lower Mainland to secure enough buses for the Games — both across Canada and from the U.S. Cooper says, “We’ve been fortunate to secure the transportation we need for our clients, but others haven’t. Some companies that thought they had transportation, now don’t. And it’s causing a bit of a panic.” In late January, some properties, like the Four Seasons Whistler, still had small blocks of rooms available for the Games period. There has been less pressure on room blocks for groups looking at properties in Richmond, B.C., and in February, a company called New West Special Projects 2010 LP announced it was accepting reservations for the Norwegian Star cruise ship, which will be moored in North Vancouver, across the Lions Gate Bridge from Stanley Park, for the duration of the Games. Another option is to plan a programme around the Paralympics, March 12 to 21, 2010. Those tickets, which have yet to go on sale, have fewer bulk buy restrictions, cost less and provide an inspiring opportunity to build programmes around the perseverance of 1,500 top athletes who have overcome disabilities to compete in a premiere sporting event.

— Allan Lynch is a New Minas, N.S.-based freelance writer.