Delegates to plug Salt Lake in Torino

Salt Lake City is trying to capitalize on the image it projected four years ago as a gracious Olympic host sister.

A few key officials from the city, state and tourism offices will take their promotional message to Torino during the 2006 Winter Olympics, which begin Feb. 10. The 16-day pitch for the state begins with the opening ceremonies for Mayor Rocky Anderson, state Sen. Al Mansell, R-Midvale, Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce President Lane Beattie and Fraser Bullock, the former COO of the Salt Lake games.

Anderson and Alison McFarlane, the mayor's economic development advisor, will pitch Salt Lake as a post-Olympic example of successful venues, youth programs, athlete centers and community pride.

"We see it as a marvelous way to get Salt Lake City more exposure in the international market in terms of ski promotion, but also just the visibility that it will continue to bring Salt Lake as an Olympic city," McFarlane said.

The Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau will pick up the bill for Anderson's flight, approximately $900. McFarlane's department budget will pay for her flight, food for her and Anderson, incidental costs and promotional materials at a cost of roughly $5,000. The city funds the economic development budget through its general fund, which draws money from city taxes.

Torino will pay for Anderson's hotel stay because he will be presenting at the city's world pavilion, a shopping center of sorts for businesses, conventions and visitors to peruse information about 30 cities ranging from Salt Lake to Quezaltenango, Guatemala, to London to Gwangju, South Korea.

Similarly, the state delegation found a sponsor in Neways, a Utah-based skin care company, or paid for their own trips. The nine-member state team, which Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. called ambassadors, includes Mansell, Bullock, Beattie and gold medalists Nikki Stone and Jim Shea Jr., among others.

Neither Anderson nor anyone from the state will fill an official role in the opening ceremony, but all will seek exposure for the state.

"With the investment that our citizens and the state of Utah made in the Olympics, which were hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, there's a desire to extend our Olympic legacy and leverage into the future," said Jeff Robbins, president of the Utah Sports Commission. "For us not to spend some incremental time and effort to go over and continue to be part of the conversation would be a mistake."