With the Olympic Games coming
to Canada in 2010, the vacation
rental market in Vancouver and
surrounding area has started to
gain momentum.
Salt Lake City in 2002 (North
America's most recent Winter
Olympics) saw approximately
220,000 out-of-town visits from
athletes, members of the press,
Olympics officials, and
spectators. Assuming a similar
number of visitors arrive in the
Vancouver area in February 2010,
the local area must now turn its
mind to the challenge of
satisfying short-term housing
demand.
Event venues for the Winter
2010 Games span about 120
kilometers from Richmond (south
of Vancouver) to Whistler (a
two-hour drive north of
Vancouver). While Vancouver is a
large population center with
many hotels, smaller centers
will need to turn to creative
housing solutions. Proposals to
date have included:
A proposal for short-term
lodging aboard cruise ships in
Squamish; and,
A proposal to house Whistler
workers in construction trailers
or modified shipping containers.
An additional source of
housing supply will come from
local private homeowners. As of
January 2008, the website Rent
2010 identifies more than 30
Vancouver, Squamish, and
Whistler homeowners who plan to
make their homes (or rooms in
their homes) available to
athletes, spectators, and other
guests during the period of the
2010 Olympics.
How much will a private
vacation rental cost?
As of January 2008,
twenty-five of the
Vacation Rental Listings set
an asking price. The average
nightly price for this sample
was $343 per bedroom (Canadian
currency). Eighteen of these
vacation rentals are in or
around the city of Vancouver
itself, and showed an nightly
price of $268 per bedroom.