County ready for Olympics

by Stephanie Kosonen
COUNTY – As Whatcom County ramps up for tourists headed to the greater Vancouver area for the 2010 Olympic games, the big influx has yet to occur locally.
After years of media hype, road improvements and summits on how to capitalize on the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, predictions have changed  in the past few days.
“We could see some rise in business, something that would be more trending toward the spring than the middle of winter, but nothing real big,” said Bob Bromley, mayor of Sumas and owner of Bromley’s Market.
Some local businesses are waiting with baited breath, contacting tourism and visitors services about what to expect. Cheryl Collins, visitors services manager for the Bellingham-Whatcom County Tourism and Visitors Center, said one local restaurant is planning to have the volume of about equal to a day in August, just in case.
Collins said a King 5 report made it sound like Bellingham was going to be one big parking lot leading up to the games. “I don’t see that happening myself. But we don’t know until it happens,” she said.
The hope is that, like an adept cross country skier, the crowds are simply pacing themselves so as not to overexert their wallets before their vacations are over.
People right now are focused just to get there and get acquainted with the Olympic Village and scheduling their stay, Collins said.
She said her guess is that local businesses will see more people during the second half of the Olympics than at the beginning.
“Partway through, we might see people venturing out. And the same for when the games are finished and people are headed back south,” Collins said.
Her office is partnering with the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Blaine Visitor Information Center to re-open a welcome center just south of exit 270 on South I-5 that closed 10 years ago. The center will provide information about local businesses and services from today through March 2.
The Olympics conclude on Feb. 28, but the center will stay open a couple days longer to catch people still filtering back down south, Collins said.
Olympics-related inquiries have come in intermittently, she said. “We did have lots of community people willing to rent their rooms in their houses and we really haven’t had much of a response for people looking for those places,” she said.
There was one she recalled — a guy from New York looking for a cool place to lodge. He followed her recommendation and got a rental in Glacier.
A number of east county business owners, including Mt. Baker Lodging owner Dan Graham said most of the increase he’s seen has been in the form of Canadians escaping the Olympics madness.
“Most of the reservations that we’re getting are people who normally would go to Whistler to go skiing but are not going there because of the Olympics. But in terms of spectators, we’re not getting that at all,” Graham said.
There’s a chance some last-minute reservations will come in from spectators  who’ve been to Mount Baker before and have some extra time, but his company hasn’t seen that yet, he said.
Collins said that with the increased border patrollers needed, hotels have seen a small increase of occupancy.
Bromley said he thinks the border traffic will hit starting this weekend, but Sumas might not see a lot unless Blaine gets overcrowded.
Other than the Olympics, several factors point toward a good amount of visitors, he said. For one thing, the weather has been nice. As well, Mount Baker has snow, while Whistler is reducing service in order to preserve snow, Valentine’s Day is Sunday and the Canadian Dollar is strong.
It’s also President’s Day weekend, so Sumas should get some business  if the border isn’t lined up too bad, Bromley added.
He said one prediction that has come true is that the border towns have gotten a dose of displaced vacationers. People who normally winter at Cypress and Whistler are looking for other places to stay.
He said his store and others he has heard from are prepared for a surge of business if it happens.
“Its just a matter of maybe being prepared to put on a little more help if you have to,” Bromley said. “Most of the time you cut back quite a bit in the winter, so we’ve got the capacity to ramp it up if we need to.”
During past events like Expo ‘86, most of the traffic stayed north once it crossed the border, he said. So this time, “Nobody went real overboard. If you’ve had a business on the border long enough, you kind of get used to the trends,” Bromley said.
The Olympic Torch Relay passed through Abbotsford, B.C., just north of Sumas, last Sunday evening, with several local residents in attendance for the “once in a lifetime event.” Several local residents have stated they will be crossing the border to attend the Olympic Games, and will stay in the greater Vancouver area to avoid crossing the border multiple times.
Among local residents who will be attending the games is Everson resident Kaleigh Jeffers, who will perform with members of her dance class from Burnaby, B.C.  during the opening ceremonies.

Border Crossings

The Canada Border Services Agency has opened the maximum number of lanes at the four Lower Mainland border crossings for travelers, open 16 hours a day until Feb. 28, 2010. Even when the maximum number of lanes is not in operation, these border crossings will remain open 24 hours a day to process travelers, as per standard operating procedures.  The exception is Aldergrove, which offers service from 5 a.m. to midnight.
• Douglas: All 10 lanes open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Pacific Highway: All 7 lanes open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Huntington: All 5 lanes open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Aldergrove: All 3 lanes open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For more information, or to check the latest border wait times, visit the CBSA’s Web site at www.cbsa.gc.ca.

• Blaine and Sumas: Open 24 hours.

• Lynden: A temporary expansion of the hours of operation at the Lynden port of entry will take place through Sunday, Feb. 28. Southbound traffic lanes will open at 5 a.m. daily for both passenger and commercial traffic into the U.S. This is three hours earlier than the normal opening time of 8 a.m. The port will continue to close at midnight.