The 2010 Winter Olympics will flood Vancouver, B.C., with 250,000 tourists.
And thousands of Vancouver-area residents will seek solace away from the winter Games.
Snohomish County wants those Olympics-weary escapees to head south for a few weeks in February.
Next month, the Snohomish County tourism board will launch an advertising campaign aimed at enticing Canadians to make the two-hour drive to destinations in the Everett area. Ads will start to appear online and in The Vancouver Sun and The Province, touting the merits of Snohomish County as a quick late-winter getaway.
The Snohomish County Tourism Bureau is behind the campaign, part of an ongoing effort to entice tourists to county attractions.
And since ticket sales for the Olympics have been heavily concentrated in the Northwest — meaning attendees won’t likely be stopping off in Snohomish County on their way north — the bureau is setting its sites on Vancouver residents fleeing the Games.
Gridlock is on the bureau’s side.
“The traffic is going to be rather halting throughout the Vancouver market once the games begin,” said Amy Spain, director of the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau. “Streets will be closed down, other streets will be open only to public transportation.”
Travel agents in Vancouver have reported a 30 percent jump in tips booked for February, according to Canadian travel associations.
And Craigslist.com is packed with listings from Vancouver-area residents looking to rent out their homes for 17-day duration of the Games. Prices for home rentals climb as high as $20,000 on the site.
The Snohomish County Tourism Bureau is encouraging local hotels and resorts to offer special Olympics packages for the duration of the Games.
So far, the Tulalip Resort Casino is the only place Spain knew of that’s offering an Olympics-getaway package. The resort has a gold package that includes deluxe accommodations for the entire span of the Games for $2,010.
Silver and bronze packages are also available for shorter periods of time.
“Our 2010 Winter Olympic getaways are perfect for the spectator who wants to enjoy the Games at their own pace,” Tulalip Resort Casino President Kenneth Kettler said.
The resort’s own Olympic Village will feature continuous coverage of the Games on big-screen televisions.
Read Amy Rolph’s small-business blog at www.heraldnet.com/TheStorefront. Contact her at 425-339-3029 or arolph@heraldnet.com.
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