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Long winter for Olympic village businesses

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The Winter Olympics are just 18 days away. They’re being held in Vancouver and the mountain resort of Whistler. As the World’s Jason Margolis reports, business is tough in Whistler in the run-up to the Games.

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MARCO WERMAN:  The Vancouver Winter Games are less than three weeks away and Olympic organizers are facing some troubles.  First, there is the lack of snow in Vancouver for the snowboarders.  There is plenty of snow in Whistler where the downhill and cross-country ski events will be held.  But the mountain resort there is having other problems, money problems.  Creditors are threatening to put the resort up for sale during the Olympics.  The owners say that won’t disrupt the games, but as The World’s Jason Margolis reports, the resort isn’t the only business in Whistler that’s struggling right now.

JASON MARGOLIS:  The Whistler Resort was built in the 1960′s, a postcard European ski village for Canada nestled at the base of two mile-high mountains.  Shops, restaurants and bars lined the quaint pedestrian only thoroughfare.  On a weekend night the village seems to be hopping with young party-goers.  College girls in sleeveless dresses, their male counter-part is t-shirts braved the sub-freezing temperatures.  They’re waiting in long lines to get into bars and clubs like the Amsterdam Café and Pub.  But don’t let the line-up at the door fool you says bartender John Quinland.

JOHN QUINLAND:  Even last year with the economic downturn we were busier than this.  Our business dropped off last year, but it was busier than this.

MARGOLIS: Quinland says business at his bar is down about 60% compared to last year.  He says most of the businesses here are struggling.

QUINLAND: If the people aren’t here, the people aren’t here.  You can’t bring people in if they’re not going to come to town.

MARGOLIS: It’s tough to be a ski resort during an economic downturn.  It’s even tougher to attract skiers and snowboarders when you’re about to host the Winter Olympics.  You’re not just battling a slow economy; you’re battling history.

KEN MELAMED:  This year is lower than most because of this phenomenon studied and well-known, one we anticipated, called Olympic aversion.

MARGOLIS: That’s the Mayor of Whistler, Ken Melamed.

MELAMED:  Most of our skiing clientele knows that the games are coming and have a perception that it’s too crowded, too expensive.

STUART REMPEL:  Too crazy, too busy, too expensive, under construction.

MARGOLIS: That second voice is Stuart Rempel, the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for the Whistler/Blackomb resort.  He says they have been working hard to counter those perceptions.

REMPEL: This is one of our brochures, our travel planner.  In 2010 the world’s best will come to Whistler and so can you basically.

MARGOLIS: Rempel lays out a map of the resorts two mountains.  He points to a corner to illustrate that only a fraction of the resort is off-limits for part of the season.

REMPEL: We have 38 lifts, one of which is impacted by the Games, and only during the month of February.  So you could come to Whistler and ski right during the middle of the Games and actually if you stayed in certain, the other 90% of the terrain, you would hardly notice that there was a Games going on given the size and the scope of our resort.

MARGOLIS: To give tourism an extra jolt in the weeks before the Olympics, Whistler slashed season lift passes by almost 30%.  Hotels are offering deals like stay two nights, get one free.  Still, despite these efforts, local businesses are preparing for a long, slow winter.

WENDY WACKO:  This is museum quality pottery.

MARGOLIS: Wendy Wacko owns Mountain Galleries.  Her shop is filled with rare and expensive stone carvings and ceramics.  Her shop has a prime location in the Fairmont Hotel.  But during the Olympics the usual high-spending Fairmont clientele will be replaced with referees and reporters.  Wacko is prepared for a lull in sales.

WACKO: I did my homework.  I know four years ago and four years before that the gallery scene in Turino and even Salt Lake City did not do well.  I’m prepared for it.  As a matter of fact if I have to debt finance this winter because our cash flow is not what it has been, I actually went to the bank and I’ve organized financing if I require it.

MARGOLIS: Other store owners like David Campbell, who owns Kier Fine Jewelry, are taking a different approach.  He’s renting out his store for February and March to Victoria Knox Swiss Army.  He’s taking a six week vacation in Australia.

DAVID CAMPBELL:  As a small business owner you don’t get that opportunity often.  It’s sort of once in a lifetime situation so we’re quite excited and looking forward to it.

MARGOLIS: A slow winter in Whistler is a blessing to others as well.  I met Luis Miguel del Coro Rojo coming off the mountain.  He’s been skiing Whistler for seven years.

LUIS MIGUE DEL CORO ROJO:  It’s a little bit quieter.  It’s a little bit quieter than normally.

MARGOLIS: Nice skiing for you?

LUIS MIGUE DEL CORO ROJO:  Yeah, excellent.  Always good to ski here.

MARGOLIS: For The World, I’m Jason Margolis, Whistler, Canada.

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