Already, the city is drawing larger convention crowds, and officials hope TV images of Utah's snowcapped peaks and wide-open spaces will draw more tourists, businesses and sporting events.
"Salt Lake's reputation has been elevated to five-star status, and the world wants to know it better," said Peter Ueberroth, chief organizer of the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Perhaps more than anything, the city sought to show the world it is not a curious enclave of peculiar people who shun alcohol, coffee and outsiders, said Jan Shipps, a non-Mormon scholar who has written books on the church and faith.
"They're not people that are quaint and outside the norm. They look like everybody else and they can put on a good party," she said.
Cultural observers, sports promoters and convention and tourism officials say Salt Lake City has proved itself to a remarkable degree. The city stands to benefit after its "spectacular" games in many ways that other Olympic cities have not, Ueberroth said.
"They can leverage that into business relocations because people know the community functions and works well," he said. "They can leverage it into increased tourism - all as a result of the Olympics that helped the globe discover the western side of the Rockies."
The 1996 Atlanta Games left a renovated downtown and Centennial Park, but little else. That city's venues have not seen any world-class action since the games ended.
"Atlanta already was, before the games, a thriving place" and didn't exploit the Olympics, said Ed Hula, an Atlanta resident and publisher of the Olympic newsletter Around the Rings.
The Los Angeles Games turned a $225 million profit but made little impact beside promoting youth sports with a cut of the profits.
"L.A.'s intention was to put on the games. We didn't need to do anything more," International Olympic Committee member Anita DeFrantz said Wednesday. "We never said this will bring anything to L.A."
But Salt Lake City, struggling to overcome its status as a second-tier destination, is now set to welcome 219,000 convention-goers in the 10 remaining months of 2002, more than in any previous year, said Jason Mathis of the Salt Lake Visitors and Convention Bureau.
An executive with experience arranging conventions said any concerns about the city's ability to handle large events vanished with the Winter Games.
"The Olympics certainly showcased Salt Lake City in a positive light," said Michael Olson, chief executive of the American Society of Association Executives. "That kind of exposure can only help."
Gov. Mike Leavitt, meanwhile, said he has closed business deals with three technology companies that will bring 1,000 jobs to Utah. Leavitt said he planted other opportunities during the games, meeting with 350 venture capitalists and 600 corporate leaders.
And to position itself as a stop on World Cup competitions, Utah plans a post-Olympic life for two of its venues - the speedskating oval and the Utah Olympic Park, the venue for ski jumping, bobsled, luge and skeleton. The Salt Lake Organizing Committee turned over $40 million on Tuesday to operate the venues.
DeFrantz said the region stands to become a major training center for U.S. athletes. Snowbasin, a little-known resort before the Olympics, "is world-renowned already," DeFrantz said.
At least one Olympic visitor is convinced this is the right place.
"If this isn't fun, I don't know what is," said Derek Parra, the U.S. speedskater who won gold in the 1,500 meters and silver in the 5,000. He is trying to persuade his wife to move from Orlando, Fla., to Utah.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/2/198128