Cashing in on the year 2002

The numbers will be staggering: 2,000 athletes, 9,000 press people, 250,000 spectators and 3.7 million TV viewers. Four years from now, the city of Salt Lake will be inundated with the overwhelming presence--both physical and financial--of the 2002 Olympic Games.

The games are estimated to bring some $2.8 billion into the Intermountain Region in the form of jobs, construction, advertising and tourism, according to Ketchum’s Chip Fisher, chair of the Idaho Olympic Committee.

And the Idaho Olympic Committee, formed during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, has come up with a plan to make sure that Idaho--and the Sun Valley area--gets its share of the revenues.

"If we can capture the drippings and have the opportunity to introduce ourselves to the rest of the world with our terms and conditions, we’re at an advantage," Fisher said.

Fisher and three other members of the Idaho Olympic Committee--Carl Wilgus, director of tourism for the Idaho Department of Commerce, Sun Valley Company general manager Wally Huffman and state Rep. Wendy Jaquet--made one of the first public presentations of the Olympic Committee’s plan during a breakfast sponsored by the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber of Commerce on Friday.

"The beauty of this plan is the simplicity of it," said Wilgus. "The Olympics is a malaise of bureaucracy."

Called "Idaho’s 2002 Winter Games Strategy," the 10-step plan urges Idaho communities to start planning now to participate in the following areas.

1. Olympic Training Sites: the State of Idaho has identified 26 different areas around the country where downhill skiers, cross-country skiers and hockey player can acclimate weeks, months or even years before the games.

2. Events/Exhibitions: the Idaho Olympic Committee hopes to promote events and exhibitions in ice hockey, figure skating, biathlon, curling and snowboarding in both before and after the games.

3. Taking the Scenic Route: the Idaho Department of Transportation will try to lure visitors from Seattle, Missoula and Vancouver south along dedicated "Olympic highways."

4. Corporate Sponsorships: the Olympics promises to be a huge corporate hospitality event. Many ticket packages put together for VIP’s have several days of downtime between events--downtime that could be spent skiing in Sun Valley or in other Idaho destinations.

5. Idaho Base Camps: to avoid the crowds and high prices of the Salt Lake City area, visitors will be encouraged to fly into Idaho communities that offer direct flights into Salt Lake City, including Sun Valley, Boise, Pocatello, Twin Falls and Idaho Falls.

6. Tour Operators: contact will be made with travel agencies and tour operators in other countries that have Olympic tickets available to promote Idaho destinations.

7. Attract Utah Residents: According to the Idaho Olympic Committee, during the Atlanta games, many local residents rented their homes and left the area, making extra money and avoiding the Olympic crowds. The committee will advertise Idaho to the Wasatch Valley with messages such as "Avoid the Crowds" or "Experience the Solitude of Idaho."

8. Raising Awareness: using the games as a catalyst, the Idaho Olympic Committee hopes to raise the awareness of tourism in Idaho on a national and international scale by sending packages to Olympic beat media.

9. Travel Information Center: the Idaho Olympic Committee envisions a center with brochures promoting Idaho opportunities.

10. Buy Idaho: The Idaho Olympic Committee has released a list of designated Olympic memorabilia that can be sold throughout Idaho. To obtain a copy of the list that includes everything from Olympic key chains to fine art, contact Carol Waller at the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber of Commerce.

The cost to implement the "Idaho’s 2002 Winter Games Strategy" will be about $750,000, Wilgus said. Much of the money will be raised from the sale of a special Idaho Olympic license plate that features the outline of a skier.

The plate will go on sale in January 1999, and $10 will be added to the sale price to be donated to the Idaho Olympic Committee. The sale of the plates should raise about $150,000 per year, Wilgus said.

Fisher said that for Sun Valley area residents, making the transition to an Olympic mindset should come naturally.

"If there is an Olympic community, we are sitting on it," he said, pointing out that Sun Valley is the state’s feeder for U.S. Olympic teams. "Taking that spirit of the Olympics, how do you be a model community that can take advantage of what will come about in 2002?"

Carol Waller, director of the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber of Commerce said the community will begin to organize its own Olympic effort.