Got some fun statistics for you today (if you’re into that.)
Out of the nearly five million people that visited Vancouver in 2008…
o 60.4% were fellow Canadians
o 23.12% were American neighbors to the south (With California ranking highest, followed by Washington tourists.)
o 9.18% were from the Asia/Pacific region (With Australia being number one, followed by Japan)
o And 5.39% flew over the Atlantic to visit from Europe (With U.K. citizens ranking noticeably higher than anyone else, more than double second place (Germany)).
On average, a visitor’s budget will look something like this..
o 31.85% on accommodations
o 25.95% on food and beverage
o 18.99% on retail
o 8.83% on private transportation
o 9.22% on recreation and entertainment
o 5.15% on public transportation
Of course, these numbers may not match well to your budget as the Winter Olympics will have fluctuations in prices… but it’s a good start.
You probably will need to budget more for accommodations during the Olympics, and depending on how many events you will attend during your stay — your recreation and entertainment budget will be different too.
We here at Olympic Home Hotels don’t expect the price of food and beverages to rise too much… and transportation costs should stay about the same.
What you should definitely budget more for is recreation and entertainment. In previous blog posts, we offered several attractions for you to visit in Vancouver before heading back home.
Speaking of statistics, numbers and expenditures…
If you’re visiting from America, please don’t forget to calculate for currency conversions and imperial-to-metric measurement.
For the most up to date currency exchange information, I would visit www.xe.com
As for the imperial and metric conversion:
1 kilometer = 0.62 miles
1 mile = 1.61 kilometer
QUICK TIP: Most city driving speed limits are 50 km/hr, which is slightly more than 30 mph. Highway driving tends to be 80 km/hr, which translates to slightly under 50 mph.
1 gallon = 3.78 liters
1 liter = 0.264 gallons
QUICK TIP: When you’re at the gas station, multiply the per liter price by four. It’s not exactly right, but close enough.
Have a safe and fun trip at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Be safe, use Safe Funds.