Accommodations for more than 6,000 people needed to stage the 2010 Winter Games in the Sea to Sky region have been finalized.
The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) announced this week that it has secured accommodation solutions ranging from a cruise ship to Quest University to billeted rooms in private homes between North Vancouver and Pemberton.
"This is an important milestone for the Organizing Committee to reach, and frees up any remaining accommodation inventory for visitors with approximately 100 days to go before the start of the Games," stated Jacqui Murdoch, VANOC's vice president of services and accommodation, in a press release.
The accommodation will house volunteers, VANOC staff and contractors from outside the region coming to work at Games' venues, including the Whistler Sliding Centre, Whistler Olympic Park and Whistler Creekside, starting in January and continuing through the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in late March.
Quest University in Squamish will house 500 people in February and more than 100 people in March. More than 300 workforce members will stay in hotel rooms in Squamish in February.
VANOC has chartered a cruise ship to house 1,100 people dockside in Squamish from late January through to the end of March. The same ship was used in a similar capacity during the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006.
Murdoch called the housing solutions a great economic generator for the community.
"It's a goal we couldn't have reached without the amazing support of residents in the region who volunteered to open their homes to people from around the world and to community leaders who helped support our other accommodation solutions," she said. "In particular, we're thankful for the support of the District of Squamish, the Resort Municipality of Whistler and Tourism Whistler. The Sea to Sky community is playing a huge role in our ability to stage spectacular Games here in 2010."
The Homestay program, launched in Oct. 2008 with hopes of generating accommodations for 1,000 volunteers, will house 590 workers, in contrast to an announcement in late September that 700 would be housed through the program. The beds will be provided by 390 host families.
The lower numbers have nonetheless received enthusiastic greeting by VANOC executives.
"It's been going great," Maureen Douglas, VANOC's director of communications, said on Sept. 21. "[The Homestay team] has been really pleased with the results."
She acknowledges that the original goal of 1,000 beds "was a fairly ambitious goal, given the time frame of the program."
More than 290 beds secured through the program will also house volunteers during the Paralympic Games. Applications will continue to be accepted from additional host families in Whistler until Games time.
Approximately 2,000 workforce members will stay in hotel rooms and condos in Whistler during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
An estimated 1,200 workforce members will stay in a separate zone in the Paralympic Village Whistler in March, along with athletes and officials, during the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.
Three modular temporary housing units will be placed on the property at 4500 Northlands Blvd. in Whistler. The three units will provide 268 beds for use between January and March. The Whistler Games Service Centre will be located at this site.
Earlier this year, VANOC secured the 3,000 rooms needed in the Whistler area during the Games for members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), broadcast rights holders, accredited print reporters and photographers, sponsors, National Olympic Committee members, and International Sport Federation members.
Visitor and spectator accommodation information for Games-time visits to Whistler can be accessed at whistler.com.
