TORONTO — The 2010 Winter Olympics were good for business, but not so good for the environment of British Columbia.
That’s the conclusion of a University of British Columbia report commissioned by the International Olympic Committee to measure the impact of the Games. The province’s economy grew with new businesses, jobs and increased visitor spending in 2010. Much of that is attributed to the Winter Games, which provided at least $50 million in tax revenue to the province, the report said.
Of all the provinces and territories in Canada, British Columbia had the highest total visitor spending for the first quarter of 2010.
Citing information from the Canada Tourism Commission, the report states that international tourists spent almost $400 million, an increase of 11 percent over the first quarter from the previous year. American visitors spent almost $270 million, an increase of almost 20 percent. UBC researchers drew from a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report that said about 800 new businesses and up to 20,780 jobs were created in British Columbia by the Games.
But greenhouse gas emissions increased during the Games to eight times what they are normally. A large part of that output came from carbon emitted by spectators, media, athletes and Olympic personnel flying to and from Vancouver.
In 1973 Denver became the only city to reject the Olympics after objections from Colorado taxpayers over rising costs and environmental impact. Those Winter Games were relocated to Innsbruck, Austria, in 1976. Denver officials recently expressed an interest in hosting the 2022 Olympics.
Denver Post wire services
