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Olympic Aftermath: Beyond the Games
During the Olympics, Utah hosted a party that changed its image in a big way. Bruce Lindsay tells how how much that image changed.
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(May. 19, 2002)------ It's too early to tell what the long-term Olympic legacy will be.
But, based on opinion surveys conducted before and after the games, we can see how the games changed public perceptions of our state.
I THINK THEY PROBABLY CHANGED. FOR THE BETTER. HOPEFULLY.
OH, I'D SAY THEY DEFINATELY CHANGED. ABSOLUTELY.
I DON'T THINK IT WAS A DRASTIC CHANGE. BUT I THINK IT WAS A CHANGE.
In fact, after all the Olympic images of Utah, public opinion about this place did changed.
Dan Jones & Associates just completed a nationwide survey of one-thousand adults for the latest KSL/Deseret News poll.
Image of Utah
More Positive 22%
More Negative 1%
No Change 75%
The brightest spot in the results: 22% say they now have a more positive image of the state.
Is that a big shift?
Dan Jones/Pollster: THAT IS A VERY LARGE NUMBER IN CHANGING PERCEPTIONS AND IMAGES. OH, I'LL SAY IT IS.
And, the more time people spent watching the Olympics, the better about Utah they felt.
Among those who watched every day, 37% gained a more positive image of the state.
But you can't say the survey gave us only home runs.
Having seen us, fewer fence sitters say they "don't know" about Utah now.
In fact, Americans are more certain than ever that it's hard to get a drink around here, and that Utah nightlife is
limited.
AGREE: HARD TO GET DRINKS
Before Games: 19%
After: 27%
AGREE: LIMITED NIGHTLIFE
Before: 20%
After: 31%
And, again, the more they watched, the more certain about that they became.
Salt Lake convention promoters aren't surprised.
Dianne Binger/Pres., S.L. Convention & Visitors Bureau: IT'S STILL HARD, SOMETIMES TO SELL SALT LAKE AND THERE'S MANY CHALLENGES WE HAVE TO OVERCOME.
Such as?
"WHAT TYPE OF NIGHTLIFE DO WE HAVE?"
On the plus side, Dan Jones says, WE ASKED THE QUESTION PREVIOUSLY "HOW MANY WACKOS DO YOU THINK THEY'RE IN UTAH?" AND THAT HAS DECREASED.
UTAH PROVINCIAL & BACKWARD
AGREE
Before: 10%
After: 14%
DISAGREE
Before: 49%
After 55%
But, again, more people now have formed an opinion that Utah is provincial and backward.
More, too, have decided it's not. So take it either way you choose.
DAN JONES: I WOULD SAY THE GLASS IS HALF FULL, RATHER THAN HALF EMPTY.
Others are still looking for the glass.
Larry Mankin/Pres. Salt Lake Chamber: WE'RE WAITING FOR THAT POT OF GOLD TO GET HERE, THE PROVERBIAL POT OF GOLD AT THE END OF THE OLYMPIC RAINBOW. IT'S NOT HERE YET.
Mankin says, however, the chamber is getting more requests for information.
Hits on the state travel council website, too, have been up. Whether more tourists will come, we're waiting to see.
Ditto on economic development.
David Winder/Governor's Assistant/Post Olympic Projects: WE'RE GETTING A LOT MORE NIBBLES.
David Winder/Governors's Assistant, Post-Oly Projects: BUT YOU CAN'T SAY THE OLYMPICS ARE THE SOLE FACTOR, THEY ARE A FACILITATOR.
So, too is friendliness.
February 10, 2002: AND PEOPLE HAVE BEEN VERY, VERY FRIENDLY.
UTAHNS FRIENDLY?
About same 67%
Don't know 19%
More 12%
Less 2%
But for all the friendly facilitating we did during the games, two thirds of Americans still think Utahns are no more friendly than other people, which can prick Utah insecurities.
DAN JONES: WE WANT TO BE LOVED. WE WANT TO BE LOVED. AND FOR THE MOST PART, WE ARE.
Monday night, John Hollenhorst will look at how much the Olympics changed Calgary in a lasting way, 14 years after it hosted the games.
That latest Utah image survey contains lots of information.
For further details about how the Olympics changed perceptions of Utah, read the story by Elaine Jarvik, in Monday's Deseret News.
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