Park City and its sister city are each planning for a Winter Olympics.

The Alps community of Courchevel, France, is set to play an important role in the Games of 2030 while the Park City area is a key to the plans for the Winter Olympics in 2034.

The upcoming Games in the two places could be a topic for discussion in coming weeks as a delegation from Courchevel travels to Park City. Mayor Nann Worel provided information about the upcoming trip during a Park City Council meeting on Thursday. She indicated the Courchevel contingent is scheduled to arrive in Park City on Aug. 30 and depart on Sept. 6. The mayor of Courchevel is slated to lead the eight-person delegation, Worel said.

She said the travelers want to study the tourism industry of Park City, including the efforts to attract visitors outside of the traditionally busy ski season.

“Their goal while they’re here is to learn how we became a year-round, vibrant city. And they have a really vibrant winter season and then they kind of roll up the sidewalks during the summertime. And they want to change that,” Worel said, adding the schedule includes discussions with the Park City Chamber/Bureau and other organizations.

The mayor did not provide a detailed rundown of the itinerary for the travelers.

It seems almost certain representatives from Park City and Courchevel will address the Games of 2030 and 2034, at least at some level, with the visit planned at the outset of the Olympic eras in both places.

The International Olympic Committee in July awarded both of the events. The Games of 2030 will stretch through a swath of the south of France while the 2034 Winter Olympics will be based in Salt Lake City with competition venues across northern Utah.

The Park City area is crucial to the concept for the Games, with Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park identified as important competition venues. The area will also be heavily involved in the transportation, security and celebration plans. The Courchevel area in the Games of 2030 is expected to host skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined competitions, making it one of the keys to the event.

A delegation from the south of France visited the Park City area in January in an effort to learn about the efforts to stage a second Games in the state and about the legacy from the 2002 Winter Olympics. The trip included a stop at the Utah Olympic Park.

The president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regional council, Renaud Muselier, led the French delegation in January, expressing confidence in the region’s ability to stage a Games. He said the French Alps are predicted to have adequate snow to host an Olympics through the middle of the century.

A group of Courchevel students, meanwhile, was in Utah in July as part of a student-exchange program. The stay coincided with the IOC selections of the Games of 2030 and 2034 hosts.

Worel at the meeting on Thursday also said a delegation from Park City, including herself, traveled to Courchevel in 2023 to attend skiing championships to learn “how they organize their events and how they deal with their transportation challenges, etc.”

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It has been a joyous few weeks in Park City, starting with the outpouring of pride on July 24 as the International Olympic Committee selected Salt Lake City to be the host of the 2034 Winter Olympics.

A crowd of 4,000 later that day gathered at the Utah Olympic Park to celebrate the selection. Park City and Summit County sent officials to Paris for the IOC meetings and to begin learning about the staging of a Games. They returned from France with observations about the Olympic transportation system and the impacts on businesses. And City Hall, the County Courthouse and the Park City Chamber/Bureau are readying to tap a consultant to craft a plan for the Games that will outline a decade of work.

But the excitement generated by the awarding of the Winter Olympics, and the buzzing final months of the bidding for the Games, perhaps acted as a distraction of sorts, at least momentarily, from the widespread concerns in the community about a range of issues like traffic, the state of the resort industry, growth and affordability.

The IOC selection put Park City, as well as Summit County, into the planning stage for the Winter Olympics after the efforts were focused for years on the bidding. There are three competition venues in the Park City area identified on the Games map — Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park — and the community will be critical to the transportation, security and celebration plans. Leaders in Park City and Summit County in coming months are expected to begin laying the groundwork for a plan for the Games that will extend through the months after the cauldron is extinguished in 2034.

The mayor of Park City and the City Council, though, will need to accomplish that work while attempting to lead a populace that already had deep concerns about the state of the community even before the awarding of the Games. The pending Winter Olympics, still more than nine years into the future, could exacerbate the worries, as Parkites dwell on the potential impact the event could have on the issues that are already so difficult. There had been indications during the bidding that some Parkites were worried about a Winter Olympics even as others expressed excitement about the prospects of a Games. A series of community conversations in the fall of 2022 highlighted the wide-ranging opinions.

With Park City having entered a second Winter Olympic era, another recent reading of the sentiments of Parkites, covering many of the most pressing issues, becomes notable again. The National Community Survey, conducted on behalf of the municipal government in late 2022 and early 2023, showed fractures were forming or, worse, widening in Park City. Some of the results were especially damaging and seemed to lend credence to the broad-based angst that was so apparent around the time of the survey.

One of the key questions inquired about the overall direction of Park City. Just 41% indicated the direction was excellent or good, representing a cratering in the response over the course of five surveys starting in 2011. The drop was 29 percentage points from the 70% who saw the overall direction of Park City as being excellent or good in 2011. A question centered on the cost of living of Park City resulted in a disastrous response, with a mere 12% rating it as excellent or good. The figure had dropped 14 percentage points from the response of 26% in 2013.

Other responses that are of consequence in the context of the beginning of an Olympic era included:

• The traffic flow of major streets, dropping to a 25% excellent or good rating from a high of 68% in 2011.
• The ease of travel using public transportation, falling to a 67% excellent or good rating from a high of 89% in 2013.
• The overall confidence in the Park City government, dropping to a 56% excellent or good rating from the 66% in 2013.
• The community as a place to visit, garnering a strong response of 92% excellent or good. The result, though, was a slight drop from the 96% figure in 2013.
• The overall economic health, at 88% excellent or good, up 7 percentage points from the 81% in 2013.
• The overall image or reputation, at 83% excellent or good after falling from 96% in 2011.

It seems almost certain the shock of the coronavirus, the intense concerns about what Parkites saw as unchecked tourism during the pandemic and fast-rising real estate prices at that time greatly influenced the results of the survey taken in 2022 and 2023. Still, the community has seemed to remain in some sort of funk, if not a malaise, that is difficult to define, even as Park City exited the worst of the pandemic with strength and then moved into the final phases of the Games bid.

It is impossible to predict what sort of influence the Winter Olympic efforts will have on the issues in Park City over the coming decade. The Games could provide new momentum, and access to monies, as City Hall and the County Courthouse attempt to address traffic and transportation. The Games under that scenario could be hailed as a catalyst for progress in the long-running efforts to combat traffic. The Winter Olympics could, at the same time, though, eventually push up real estate and rental prices, already seen as the most expensive in the state, as buyers are attracted to a Games-era Park City. If that were to occur, the Winter Olympics would likely be blamed in some circles for aggravating an already challenging housing situation, particularly for the rank-and-file workforce.

City Hall plans the next National Community Survey in late 2024, giving Parkites an opportunity to consider the impact of the Winter Olympics as they answer questions like the one about the direction of Park City.

By then, the celebratory atmosphere this summer surrounding the awarding of the Games may have encountered the stark realities of organizing a Winter Olympics in a community that already had so many concerns for the future.

Jay Hamburger has been a staff writer at The Park Record for the past 27 years.

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The Park City Chamber/Bureau on Tuesday said it will delay hiring a consultant to assist with the initial planning for the 2034 Winter Olympics.

The Chamber/Bureau said there was a “tremendous amount of interest” in a recent request for proposals, or RFP, that sought a consultant to create a plan covering the next 10 years of preparations for the Games. There were unspecified “clarifying questions” from those showing interest in the request for proposals that played a role in the decision to delay the effort, the Chamber/Bureau said.

“We feel that it is in our best interest to revisit the scope of work and re-issue the RFP at a later date. A more comprehensive and refined scope of work will ensure that we receive the deliverables that are most productive for our community,” the Chamber/Bureau said.

The effort to hire a consultant to create a 10-year plan for the Winter Olympic work is an early step as the community begins to prepare for the event. City Hall, the County Courthouse and the Chamber/Bureau are cooperating on the effort.

The deadline for submissions had been set for Aug. 30. The proposals were to have been evaluated from Aug. 31 until Sept. 13, with a tentative notice to the consultant selected on Sept. 16. The completion date for the work had been set for Jan. 15.

The parties had wanted a consultant to address a wide range of issues, including infrastructure plans, environmental and sustainability topics, the economic impact of the Games and a plan for the communications. 

The Chamber/Bureau, Park City and Summit County moved quickly to seek a consultant after the International Olympic Committee in late July selected Salt Lake City as the host of the 2034 Games. Park City and surrounding Summit County will have a large role in the Games, as was the case during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park are identified as competition venues. The Park City area will also be key to the transportation, security and celebration plans.

The extended timeline in selecting a consultant will likely have negligible impact on the Winter Olympic work in the area with the start of the Games more than nine years into the future. The IOC selection this year provided more time for the preparations than the community had in the 2002 Winter Olympic era, when hosts were named seven years in advance of a Games.

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The Park City-area travelers to the Summer Olympics in Paris learned there can be challenges as the crowds move about the Games region.

Park City Mayor Nann Worel, Summit County Council Chair Malena Stevens and Jennifer Wesselhoff, the president and CEO of the Park City Chamber/Bureau, recounted the trip during joint meeting Monday of the Park City Council and County Council at the Richins Building.

The travelers presented a slide that described the experience, calling traffic and transportation the “biggest issue for Parisians.” The slide addressed road closures, communication challenges and dedicated road lanes for vehicles that were part of the official Olympic fleet.

The slide also indicated transportation “between Olympic cities challenging” and there were “not sufficient train tickets.” It was two and a half hours to the closest venue community, and some of the venues were eight hours from Paris, the slide said. There was also information about what the travelers said was a doubling of “the price of transit during the games.”

Worel noted what she considered to be a lack of clear communications regarding transportation as well as the road closures.

Stevens said an app available during the Games did not reflect routes open to the public.

The observations about the transportation system during the Games in Paris came as the Park City area begins planning for the 2034 Winter Olympics. Crafting the transportation plans will be one of the critical tasks for the area governments and an Olympic organizing committee.

The plans will be expected to address routes between Park City and the Salt Lake Valley in addition to movement throughout the Wasatch Back. The system that operated during the 2002 Winter Olympics relied heavily on park-and-ride lots and a reinforced bus system.

There were also brief comments about the economic impact of the Games. A slide indicated lots of Parisians left for the Games and “small businesses (were) impacted by closures.”

Other topics the travelers mentioned on Monday included:

• The presence of 35,000 members of law enforcement in Paris from around the European Union.
• The availability of more than 1,000 water fountains in Paris.

The trip to Paris covered the International Olympic Committee award of the Games of 2034 to Salt Lake City and the opening days of the Summer Olympics. The travelers wanted to be in Paris for the awarding of the Games and use the trip as an early fact-finding mission about the staging of an Olympics.

One of the slides shown on Monday mentioned a desire to continue learning about the Games through missions to future Olympics. The next opportunity will be the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

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There are more than nine years before the 2034 Winter Olympics open.

And leaders in local government and the tourism industry in the Park City area are signaling they want assistance in preparing.

City Hall, the County Courthouse and the Park City Chamber/Bureau have launched a search for a consultant to create a plan for the Games that will be designed to cover a decade. The three identified competition venues in the Park City area — Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park — are also involved in the effort to tap a consultant.

The deadline for submissions is Aug. 30. The request for proposals seeks a consultant “to develop a comprehensive 10-year action plan aimed at preparing our community to host the Winter Olympic Games.” The parties want the plan to encompass a wide range of issues, including planning for the Games, infrastructure considerations, logistical elements, the impact on the economy and the environment.

“Hosting the 2034 Winter Olympic Games once again presents unique opportunities to showcase our community on the global stage, enhance local infrastructure, increase quality of life amenities, and promote economic vibrancy,” the request for proposals says.

The scope of the work is broad. The parties want a consultant to address numerous issues that will be raised with the Games, including identifying “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to hosting the Winter Olympic Games.” The consultant will be tasked with assessing the current infrastructure as well as “the need for new or upgraded sports venues, accommodations, transportation systems, and other critical infrastructure.” Another key assignment will be to craft a “timeline and roadmap” for the implementation of the plan over the next decade.

Some of the other topics the consultant will be expected to cover include:

• Developing “strategies to minimize environmental impact and promote sustainability.”
• Analyzing “the potential economic impact of hosting the Winter Olympic Games on the local economy.”
• Developing a financial plan
• Identifying “potential risks and challenges associated with hosting the Winter Olympic Games, including threats to security and safety.”

The consultant will also be asked to gather additional input from the public about the Games, using engagement tools like surveys, public meetings, workshops and focus groups.

The parties want a final report, with recommendations and the plan covering the next 10 years, before Jan. 15. Submittals are scheduled to be evaluated from Aug. 31 until Sept. 13, with a notice of an award of a contract tentatively slated for Sept. 16. It was not clear early in the week what sort of price tag may be attached to an agreement with a consultant.

The effort to draft a consultant is an early, and likely important, example of cooperation between City Hall, the County Courthouse and the other parties. The sides have appeared interested in collaboration through much of the discussion about hosting a second Games in the state, and a joint effort like the one underway to hire a consultant could ultimately be seen as a key step at the outset of the preparations.

The Park City area will have outsized importance to the Games, as was the case during the Winter Olympics in 2002. The three competition venues will be expected to keep the community on the event grid throughout the Games. The area will also be crucial to the transportation, security and celebration plans.

The International Olympic Committee in July awarded the Games of 2034 to Salt Lake City. The decision had been anticipated for months. Although Park City and Summit County leaders had been discussing the prospects of a Games, the actual awarding of the event moved the talks from the bidding stage to the planning for the Olympics.

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It seemed likely by the fall of 2022 that Utah would be selected to host a second Winter Olympics, perhaps the Games of 2030 or those of four years later.

The blueprints for a Winter Olympics involved many existing facilities and there was overwhelming public support as a bid committee sought a Games.

Leaders in Park City and Summit County, though, wanted to learn about the community’s leanings regarding a second Games, holding a series of community conversations in person and online between September and November. The events, led by Mountain Mediation Center, drew nearly 140 people combined as the attendees spoke about hopes for a second Winter Olympics, as well as their concerns.

The exercise yielded a report in November of 2022 that now provides an intriguing look at the thinking of Parkites and people elsewhere in Summit County as they dwelled on the prospects of a Games.

The International Olympic Committee in July awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics to Utah, with the Park City area having a large role in the concept. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park are identified as competition venues for 2034 while the area will be critical to the transportation, security and celebration plans.

The award of the 2034 event was widely expected by the time of the IOC meetings in Paris on the eve of the Summer Olympics in the French capital. Park City and Summit County will shortly shift from the bid process to the planning for the Games. City Hall and the County Courthouse will with near certainty gather more public input about the Games in coming months, but the conversations in 2022 provide at least a benchmark of sorts illustrating the range of opinions about a Games.

Much of the input that was gathered in 2022 seems to remain relevant today, with many of the topics raised during the conversations being broad in nature and touching on issues that leaders are aware must be addressed during the upcoming Olympic work. There were comments about the Winter Olympics as an event, but there was also input, perhaps more telling, about the potential impact on the community of a second Games. There were also comments that reflected the current state of Park City as attendees appeared to begin linking community challenges of today and a future Games.

Some spoke about what they saw as the losing of character of the community, such as Park City no longer being a small town, a ski town or a historic town. There were worries about the possibility of a worsening disparity between socioeconomic classes with a second Games, the impacts on seniors and minorities and how the housing situation, already difficult for rank-and-file workers, could be influenced.

But others saw a second Games as something that could build pride in the community, provide monies for a range of improvements, inspire young athletes and further the area’s environmental efforts.

Concerns raised during the community conversations, as presented without names attached in the Mountain Mediation Center’s report in November of 2022, included:

• “Government will overlook the needs of the community in favor of growth/economics.”

• “Focus on making money, development, and growth hurts the community.”

• “Those who come will only be focused on business/money and not on community values.”

• “Developers, resorts, & realtors are the only ones who will receive benefits.”

• “How do we show equity and inclusion as we plan for the Games?”

• “Are the Games transactional or inspirational?”

• “What can be done now to ensure we will still have a winter for the Olympics?”

• “Locals with long-term housing needs will be kicked out in favor of short-term rental profits.”

• “Building athletic infrastructure to meet Olympic needs, but not community needs.”

• “Is the transportation infrastructure necessary for the Games the same infrastructure the community needs post-event?”

Some of the hopes that were raised during the community conversations, also as presented in the Mountain Mediation Center report:

• “Build community pride & bring the community together.”

• “Opportunity to engage with different cultures and learn from them.”

• “Many residents volunteered for/worked for/participated in the 2002 Olympics and have remained in Summit County.”

• “Funding can be put to the best use … used to build structures for the Olympics that can later become affordable housing.”

• “Bring in money and attention.”

• “Increase/attract diversity.”

• “Planning for an Olympics will be a catalyst for a greener Utah.”

• “Inspire the next generation of athletes.”

• “Improve transportation between Salt Lake City and Park City.”

• “Opportunity to increase sustainable transportation.”

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There was widespread excitement in Park City on July 24 as the International Olympic Committee selected Salt Lake City as the host of the 2034 Winter Olympics.

And there was also likely a round of cheers in the community as the IOC also selected France as the host of the Games of four years earlier, as a sprawling bid involving the south of France and the Alps was named the host of the 2030 event.

A group of students from Park City’s sister city of Courchevel, France, was in the state from July 20 until Sunday, a time period that included the announcement of the locations for the Winter Olympics in 2030 and 2034, as well as the celebrations making the selection of Salt Lake City. It was by happenstance that the students were in Park City at the time, but their presence added a different dimension to the historic day. Courchevel is identified as a location for some of the competitions in the Games of 2030.

Park City and Courchevel operate a student-exchange program, and the 16 students, ranging in age from 16 to 18, were in Park City as part of the exchange, along with four chaperones. Park City students were in Courchevel in February.

“It’s almost destiny,” Tina Quayle, the president of the Park City Sister City Association, said about the awarding of the two Games at the same time and as the French students were in the community.

Quayle said there will be opportunities for the sister cities to engage as they each plan for their respective Games. She said they can learn from each other as they prepare. Quayle predicted a group from Park City will travel to France for the Games in 2030 as part of the preparations.

“You can bet there will be a contingent invited to the Olympics in 2030,” she said. “I’m certain there will be.”

Quayle said the officials in Park City who plan for the Games can learn from the French as they ready the 2030 event. She said, as an example, the French excel at putting on a spectacle.

“Their showmanship when it comes to fireworks, drones, lights … putting all of that together,” she said. “They know how to put on a show. And their shows have a French flavor, which is different than an American flavor.”

She pointed to the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Paris as she spoke.

The Park City area is critical to the plans for a second Games in the state, as was the case during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park are identified as key competition venues. The area will also be important to the traffic, security and celebration plans.

The student exchange followed in the months after a contingent from the south of France visited the Park City area as part of a wider mission to Utah in an effort to learn about the Games. An official from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regional council led the French delegation in January, expressing confidence in the region’s ability to stage the Games and saying the French Alps are predicted to have adequate snow for a Winter Olympics through 2050.

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There is now a deadline for the Winter Olympic efforts: The opening ceremony in February 2034.

Officials at City Hall, the County Courthouse and in the Park City tourism industry have spent years assisting during the bidding for a second Games in the state. And the awarding of the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City on Wednesday essentially launches the organizing phase.

Park City, Summit County and the Park City Chamber/Bureau, in an early step in the Games planning, intend to tap an Olympic liaison. The liaison’s chief duty apparently will be to draft a plan for the next decade of preparing for the Olympics.

A request for proposals for an Olympic liaison is being finalized and is projected to be released shortly. A timeline for a selection is not clear, but it seems likely one could be made by the middle of the fall. A timeline for the work of an Olympic liaison is also not known. The projected cost of a liaison is another unknown. Some of the information may be addressed in the request for proposals itself. 

The work is slated to include gathering input from the public via online surveys. There will also be focus groups. A prepared statement describing the liaison work indicates the focus groups will involve former leaders, officials from governments, athletes, the lodging industry and the Games venues identified on the concept map.

“The development of a 10-year action plan will ensure that our communities, stakeholders and residents are best positioned to welcome the world to Park City,” Mayor Nann Worel said in a prepared statement. “Garnering input from local residents, stakeholders and businesses will help inform our vision and action plan for the 2034 Games.”

The details of a 10-year plan would be of broad interest in the community, as Parkites, the tourism industry and the wider business community learn what sort of schedule the area could follow as the plans are crafted for the Games.

It is not clear what sort of issues a liaison will address. City Hall and the County Courthouse will eventually need to work on plans for transportation and security, but it is not known how deeply a liaison will delve into topics like those. The Chamber/Bureau, meanwhile, will likely be involved in the plans for Games celebrations. Much of the broad work will also include an Olympic organizing committee and the three Park City-area competition venues — Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park — but the role of a liaison in that context has not been clarified.

The public input that is gathered will be notable since it will be the first round of opinions after the awarding of the Games and the input will be gathered at the outset of the organizing phase. City Hall and the County Courthouse in 2022 hired the Mountain Mediation Center to conduct community conversations about the Olympics. The input at that time was wide ranging, but more than a year has passed since those opinions were compiled.

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One couple at the Utah Olympic Park on Wednesday to celebrate the awarding of the 2034 Winter Olympics to the state was ecstatic.

“Waking today to hear the news was pure magic! SLC 2034!” the couple wrote, drawing the Olympic rings next to the message.

Another person offered a message that was more blunt.

“Beat Russia!!! USA 2034,” the person wrote.

Many in the large crowd at the park on Wednesday provided brief written messages on an oversized torch made of cardboard. There were several people leaving messages at once at some points as they expressed their hopes for the Games of 2034 or recalled the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The event at the Utah Olympic Park was one of several in the Park City area and the Salt Lake Valley marking the International Olympic Committee’s selection of Salt Lake City as the host of the 2034 Games. The IOC made the selection during meetings on the eve of the opening of the Summer Olympics.

The naming of Salt Lake City as the host in 2034 was widely anticipated, but it nonetheless prompted an outpouring of pride in the community and talk of the hopes for the Games. The Park City area will be critical to the Games, with Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park identified as competition venues. The community will also be important to the transportation, security and celebration plans.

The Utah Olympic Park estimated the event drew 4,000 people. There was a mix of generations. Some fondly recalled the Winter Olympics of 2002, while others were born years later. There were Olympic pins dating from the 2002 era for sale and some early goods emblazoned with the year 2034 available. Resort executives spoke to the crowd about the excitement of the day.

The messages left on the cardboard torch, though, provided some of the most intriguing insights into the thinking of people at the event. The celebratory mood of the day likely influenced many of the people leaving messages, mostly anonymously or with a first name only.

Some of the messages:

• “Can’t wait for 2034! Go USA team!”

• “US figure skating! Let’s get gold! P.S. I’ll be there for bobsled.”

• “So (excited) 4 2034 Olympics.”

• “Well done PC & SLC U did it!”

• “I want to see some good hockey!!!”

• “Can’t wait for ice skating!”

• “Closing ceremonies were the best party I’ve ever been to!”

There was little talk on Wednesday of the extraordinary task ahead for the community as leaders plan for the Games. The messages reflected the joviality of the day rather than any concerns people may have about issues likely to arise in the talks about the Games, such as potential impacts on growth, traffic and affordability.

Olympics in the ‘backyard’

Park City Ski & Snowboard has produced a series of Olympians over the years, including gold medalists.

Ryan Devine, the youth development director at Park City Ski & Snowboard, said he believes some athletes who participated in the organization’s programs will be on the Winter Olympic team in 2034.

“I think it’s a good chance. We have a good track record,” Devine said.

Athletes from the organization often are named to the national teams. With a Winter Olympics “in their backyard,” athletes from Park City Ski & Snowboard could be especially motivated, Devine said.

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The tourism industry in Utah will continue to grow over the next decade as the state readies for the 2034 Winter Olympics, a fact sheet released in the hours before the Games were expected to be awarded to Salt Lake City maintains.

The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah released the fact sheet on Tuesday with the International Olympic Committee likely to award the Games of 2034 to Salt Lake City on Wednesday during meetings in Paris on the eve of the Summer Olympics in the French capital.

In an important statement for the Park City area, the fact sheet predicts people visiting the state in 2034 “will find a much larger tourism economy than in 2002,” a reference to the earlier Winter Olympics held in the state 22 years ago.

The fact sheet says people visiting Utah in 2022 spent $11.8 billion, a record and a jump from the $7.7 billion spent during 2002. It says skier-days and visits to national parks “were more than twice as large in 2022 than in 2002.”

“Protecting the quality of the visitor experience will need to be a major focus of state leaders as we approach the 2034 games,” the fact sheet says.

The institute, meanwhile, says “Utah has firmly established itself as a winter sports capital.” It notes that facilities like the Utah Olympic Park have been maintained in the years since the Winter Olympics and continue to attract visitors from outside of Utah.

“The Utah economy will be nearly twice the size of 2002 and feature a much larger tourism sector, more international engagement, improved infrastructure, and a robust winter sports economy,” the fact sheet says.

The statements about the projected growth of the tourism industry are important for Park City and surrounding Summit County since the sector drives the local economy. The ski industry attracts large crowds to Park City in the winter, while cultural and outdoors pursuits draw people to the community in the summer and fall. Tourism in Park City is important to the statewide industry, with the community internationally recognized as a mountain destination.

The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute fact sheet, though, could become additional evidence for people worried about the impact of the growth of tourism on Park City. There have long been complaints about traffic, parking shortages and crowded slopes in Park City, and the worries seemed to intensify as the community’s economy emerged from the depths of the pandemic with broad resiliency.

The prospects of a significant increase in tourism after the Winter Olympics in 2034 have been mentioned over the years of discussions about the possibility of hosting a second Winter Olympics in the state. The topic, though, has not been heavily debated in Park City recently.

The Park City area would be crucial to a second Games, as was the case in 2002. Three competition venues — Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park — are identified on the concept map for 2034. The community would also be key to the transportation, celebration and security planning.

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