Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
Make more money, how exactly?
There's very little evidence that olympics are even good for tourism, which is supposed to be the huge moneymaker locally. For example, Britain actually had 5% less tourists in 2012 than the previous year. London saw a slight increase in tourism, but even that was not a boon for everyone, as for example museums and theaters (both big business in London) saw significant declines in audiences.
In other words, olympic tourism mostly just replaces other tourism instead of adding to it.
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The 1988 Calgary Olympics posted a $140,000,000 profit. That's in 1988 money, today with inflation I'm sure the profits could be even higher; especially when you consider that our facilities still exist and are still
World Class.
The unique tourism that Calgary will gain from a new generation of people that otherwise wouldn't have visited Calgary if not for an Olympics makes this venture worth it in my eyes. Calgary already spends a fair bit on marketing tourists? The Olympics can be seen as one big marketing tool. Millions will be watching on television world wide and who knows, maybe the ones who do come to visit may fall in love with banff and lake lousie and etc and may make it an annual trip. Personally, I think the risk is worth it.