Torino still enjoys the benefits of Olympic Winter Games since 2006
The Italian city is still taking advantages of being the hosting for the Olympic Winter Games, back in 2006. This event has even nowadays an impact onto local tourism industry.
Before 2006, Torino was mostly seens as an industrial city, and certainly not a touristic attraction. After the 2006 Winter Games its image started to change, enabling the city to become a new tourism and business destination due to its rich history, culture and high-tech industry to the world.
The Michelin Guide previously rated Torino as “worth the detour” and now it is seen as “worth a trip on its own”.
There was recorded a constant growth among visitors year after year since the Games, from 3.3 million in 2006 to 4.3 million in 2012.
The city has also been able to attract a growing number of major events to the city, including the World Fencing Championships, the Winter Universiade and the World Figure Skating Championships.
Back then, for the 2006 Winter Games, organizers had doubts about their positive impact on Torino.
"The Olympic Games give you the maximum international visibility that you can get", said Cesare Vaciago, who was chief executive of the Torino 2006 Organising Committee.
"The Torino Games of 2006 changed the history of the city. It was a forgotten city, out of sight, that was losing trust in its capacity and professionalism. Now Torino has recovered trust in itself."
SOURCE
