After more than seven years of planning and six weeks of fun and excitement, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games have come to an end. Through the eyes of hundreds of thousands of visitors, as well as three billion viewers worldwide, we had the opportunity to showcase BC to the world by providing the best guest experience starting at the moment visitors arrive in BC. Employees and employers in every sector in our industry — transportation, accommodation, food and beverage services, attractions and travel services, and even parking and security at the Games — all played a part in putting on a great, successful event and promoting BC tourism.

Update! The Ministry of Finance recently released a report outlining BC’s investments in hosting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and other related investments. Please click here to view the report: British Columbia’s Investments in the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and Related Activities.

To build on the Games legacy, and to help tourism and hospitality operators impacted by the London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Games, this section of the website serves as an archive of the various initiatives as well as human resource information that go2 provided to both employers and job seekers on how to prepare for the event.

If you would like additional information on any of the initiatives, please contact Joyce Lam.

Following is a summary of the activities:

Research

• A pre-Games survey was conducted in the Lower Mainland and Sea-to-Sky areas to gauge employers’ staffing challenges prior to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 
• Working in partnership with the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, a focus group was conducted with Whistler employers to further explore the issues and understand the challenges. 
• Post-Games surveys were conducted across BC to identify staffing issues that arose during the Games.

Resources and tools

• The go2 website was enhanced with a new “Tourism & 2010” section, which contained information and resources for employers and job seekers. 
• A special search function for Olympic-related jobs and volunteer positions was created on go2’s job board, allowing job seekers to find Games-related jobs easily. 
• An applicant database was set up to collect résumés from job seekers interested in temporary 2010 jobs.

Job Fairs

• In partnership with the Vancouver Student Work Abroad Program (SWAP) staff, go2 held a hiring fair in Vancouver.
• Working in partnership with BC’s Provincial nominee program (BCPNP), go2 was able to distribute materials via BCPNP staff to promote potential temporary job openings through Destination Canada, a series of European job fairs in France and Belgium. 
• Additionally, go2 worked with the BCPNP to connect tourism employers to ZAV, a non-profit unit of Germany’s federal Employment Agency that also helped Canadian employers to fill Games-related jobs. 

Industry Events

• go2 presented at information sessions for employers on the topic of 2010 staffing. The events were hosted by Tourism Vancouver, Tourism Richmond and the Whistler Chamber of Commerce. 
• go2 supported and attended Rally Round Robson, a celebratory event coordinated by Tourism Vancouver for tourism, retail and hospitality employees preparing to welcome the world for the Games.

Training

• go2 promoted WorldHost’s Team 2010 Training as an instructional program for front-line staff and sent all go2 staff to attend the WorldHost Fundamentals Plus sessions.

Marketing, PR and Communications

• @tourism2010jobs was created on Twitter as a 2010-specific job feed, highlighting temporary 2010 positions on go2’s job board as well as openings found through the Twitter network of BC tourism employers and Games partners.
• go2 implemented a Google AdWords campaign to encourage job seekers across Canada to visit go2’s website and search for temporary 2010 openings or upload their resumes.
• go2 built awareness for 2010 job and volunteer opportunities via a press release, e-newsletters, website, Facebook and Twitter.
• go2 launched a “Gold Medal Customer Service” photo contest to recognize outstanding tourism professionals who offered excellent customer service to visitors during the Games.