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Torino Tour - 7 Days To Sell P.G.

By 250 News

Monday, November 21, 2005 08:24 PM


Katherine Voigt of Export North, Virginia Sprangers of Events P.G. and Gerry Offet of Initiatives Prince George plan a delegation to head to Italy to sell P.G. during the  Torino Italy Winter Olympics

City Council has unanimously approved spending $38 thousand dollars to send a delegation to Torino Italy to sell P.G. during the winter Olympics in 2006.

"Its a once in a lifetime marketting  opportunity", says Gerry Offet of Initiatives Prince George. The trip would be a joint project of the PG Spirit of BC Committee and Initiatives Prince George.  

Mayor Colin Kinsley is the Chairman of the Committee, Councilor Don Basserman is the Vice Chair.

The trip , as envisioned by Initiatives Prince George, would see  representatives from the City, Initiatives P.G., Export North, CNC and private companies, heading to Torino to sell the idea of  trade, education, sport hosting  and tourism for Prince George.

Councilor Bassermann says in his view this is a trial run to operate a similar project in Beijing.  He also thinks this type of venue will return  some international students and "It doesn't take long before a few international students in our community offset the price of this initial trip." 

Councilor Scott " Is this a pipe dream?  Is there a real opportunity to get some teams to train here?"  

The delegation gave a simple answer, "Yes, there is a real opportunity, we wouldn't be here if this was a pipe dream"

The money would come from the City's contingency fund.

Recognizing that taxpayers may not be too hot on the idea of spending $38 thousand dollars,  the PG Spirit of BC Committee and Initiatives Prince George will  develop a communications plan "In order to convey to the citizens of Prince George the rationale for this delegation".  A key component of that plan  will be "a panel session at the 2006 Winter Opoortunities Summit on February 10th".  That  public input event  is set to take place just ten days before the flights for Torino leave town.


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Posted on Monday, November 21, 2005 08:24 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Comment Posted by: ontwin on November 21 2005 9:01 PM
There is as much chance of "teams" training here from Torino for 2006 as there is of us seeing $$/tourists from the 2010 Olympics..that would be slim and NONE.Key words here are...Develop a plan...panel session..sounds like "downtown revitalization"The fact that it takes place 10 days before departure means the trip is a done deal and you notice Colin is the Chairman of said committee.Have a nice vacation on us!!Ciao!
Comment Posted by: gypsy on November 21 2005 10:22 PM
Now, just what did the voting public expect??
They are getting exactly what they wanted-and this is just the start of something new-or is that old.
So many afraid of change.
Just enjoy the next three years.
It is now possible for City Hall and those closely associated to have some "good times," but the fun has just begun.
Wonder what the mill rate will be for taxes in 2006.
Oh , this will be interesting.
Comment Posted by: Mike on November 21 2005 11:37 PM
The winter games require snow! We haven't had any for 3 years. Canmore has more than us. This trip is a joke and we all know it. Let them pay their own way. 4 people and 38,000. 9500.00 each. Ten Grand per head. What's the return on this investment? I suspect a liberal zero and zero. Love this 'golden era'
Comment Posted by: owl on November 22 2005 12:19 AM
They may as well prepare their post trip press release as well .... we all know tht it won;t say that the trip was useless .... they will have made a lot of contacts .... they will have made at least 7 good connections wihich need to be followed up ... in fact, it might even take anotehr trip ... or maybe pay a delegation or two to come here to see what PG ice looks like.
Comment Posted by: owl on November 22 2005 12:22 AM
No snow? I think this is the best opportunity we will ever get to get some snow making equipment going onto the Otway track, Tabor Mountain and Purden. The overnight temperature is generally cold enough to make snow. We could be skiing all three places by now right through to the end of April.
Comment Posted by: pgpercy on November 22 2005 8:11 AM
This is a waste of taxpayers money. The funds that are requested for this trip would pay for the four persons and accommodation only. I would like to see the line item required for entertainment, advertising, travel and other particulars. This delegation will not have carte blanche to walk into venues to start networking with delegates. A strategic communication plan must be presented and justified demonstrating that this is a valuable trip. We need to know who they are talking to and when, which delegation is willing to meet with the Prince George contingent.
I have no interest in sending over a delegation to walk around wide eyed with some designs on bringing the Torino experience back to PG. A little more information about this request please.
Comment Posted by: Norm on November 22 2005 6:13 PM
how deep does it have to get before the public can not stand the smell and are willing to do something about it. get informed folks and watch things change for the better.
Comment Posted by: ontwin on November 22 2005 8:58 PM
krisb.."extremely good chance"sounds like a real firm deal.. put it in your "pipe dream" and smoke it.
Comment Posted by: duffer on November 23 2005 6:43 PM
My wife and I can have a great vacation in the Mayan Riviera of Mexico for 7 days at a 5 star hotel all inclusive for 5 grand for both of us. What makes Torino so special that it costs $10,000.00 per person?