In 2011, Vancouver hosted the Vanier Cup, Grey Cup and the RBC Canadian Open, and, most famously, the Stanley Cup.
When the first three come back to Vancouver is anyone’s guess. Whether the Stanley Cup returns in 2012 depends on the Vancouver Canucks’ ability to break the runner-up jinx.
The next 12 months will, for certain, be marked by a proliferation of participation, plus a refreshment and a resurrection.
All this activity will boost the hopes of hoteliers who are desperate for a tourism turnaround from a tumultuous 2011.
It begins with Brand Live Management Group’s February 9 to 12 City and Slope promotion. Grouse Mountain, Cypress Mountain and Mount Seymour are offering a three-day, three-slope pass with downtown hotel accommodation and entry to deejay music events at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The weekend coincides with the Illuminate Yaletown festival on the second anniversary of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The Gastown Business Improvement Association’s Tour de Gastown bike race, once famously won by Lance Armstrong, is scheduled to return July 11 after a three-year absence. That’s the resurrection.
A month later on August 11, Vancouver-headquartered yogawear juggernaut Lululemon brings us the first edition of its SeaWheeze half marathon through the West End, Coal Harbour, Northeast False Creek, Chinatown, Strathcona and Kitsilano.
The City of Surrey’s first International World Music Marathon goes September 30, produced by the Fusion Festival’s John Donnelly. Back for its sophomore edition is the North Face Whistler Half Marathon June 2 and the 14th annual Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon on June 24, beginning at UBC’s Thunderbird Arena.
The crowded marketplace has spurred the 40-year-old BMO Vancouver Marathon to create new point-to-point routes for the May 6 running of its full and half marathons. Both begin at Queen Elizabeth Park instead of BC Place Stadium.
The 42-kilometre course goes west on 49th Avenue to the University of BC, around Point Grey to Kitsilano, English Bay, the Stanley Park seawall and finally to the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Half-marathoners skip the Point Grey diversion. Instead they’ll run north, downhill on Cambie Street.
Vancouver’s marathon has new leadership. Executive director Charlene Krepiakevich, founder of Target Hospitality Marketing and a former marketing and communications director of the Canadian Cancer Society, was hired in November.
2011 Tweet beat
The top-trending Twitter term in 2011? Grey Cup.
The 99th championship spent four days and one hour in the Canadian top 10, according to Vancouver social media company HootSuite Media. Ultimate Fighting Championship combatant Georges Ste-Pierre (No. 9) and Don Cherry (No. 14) were the only other sports personalities in the top 20.
On a global basis, soccer was the top Tweeted sport, driven by the FIFA Women’s World Cup where Japan shocked the U.S. in the final in Frankfurt. On the overall list, soccer Tweets topped chatter about Lady Gaga and were bested by only Justin Bieber.
Baseball showed its aging demographic. The Texas Rangers were No. 1, followed by hall of fame inductees Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar. NBA champions Dallas Mavericks were the only team in the hoops top five. Dallas was the biggest football term, as site of Super Bowl XLV. #SuperBowl was the seventh most-popular hashtag.
Zip trips
Speaking of Super Bowl, organizers of the February 5 game in Indianapolis devised a novel way of getting to the big game at Lucas Oil Stadium.
They hired Whistler’s ZipTrek Ecotours to operate a temporary, 800-foot zipline from the Super Bowl Village beginning January 27.
ZipTrek caught the eye of the Indianapolis Super Bowl committee for its as-seen-on-NBC zipline at Robson Square during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Indianapolis, lineups will be better managed with a reservation system for the $10 rides. •
