Salt Lake City GER 12 16 7 35 USA 10 13 11 34 NOR 11 7 6 24 CAN 6 3 8 17 RUS 6 6 4 16 AUT 2 4 10 16 ITA 4 4 4 12 FRA 4 5 2 11 SUI 3 2 6 11 NED 3 5 0 8 Full 2002 table

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Oly visitors say Utah friendly — not stodgy

But they admit it's hard to get good beer here

By Elaine Jarvik
Deseret News staff writer

© 2002 Deseret News
      Remember all those predictions that the world was going to find Utah impossibly stodgy?
      Turns out not to be true, according to a Deseret News/KSL-TV poll conducted by Dan Jones and Associates, which questioned visitors at various Olympic venues earlier this week.
      Utah and the 2002 Winter Games get gold medal-worthy marks from international and U.S. visitors: 93 percent said they have a favorable impression of Utah, and 97 percent said they would rate Salt Lake City's hosting of the Games as excellent or good. Two-thirds of them, in fact, chose "excellent."

Deseret News graphic Nonresident poll Requires Adobe Acrobat.

      "Those numbers are astounding," said Bob Fotheringham of Brand Force advertising, who has spent his career figuring out how to convince a sometimes jaded public to choose one brand over another. "If you think of the run-of-the-mill citizenry, it's impossible to please everybody. You almost always turn off a significant amount of people. Add to that the fact that these people paid a lot of money (for event tickets) and stood in long security lines, and that's what makes these (poll) numbers amazing."
      And remember the handwringing that these would be the "Mormon Games"? Turns out that only 11 percent of out-of-staters polled agreed with the label — compared with 17 percent of Utahns polled.

Deseret News graphic Desert tortoise habitat area Requires Adobe Acrobat.

      Utahns polled are ecstatic about the Games: 96 percent rate their Olympic experience as excellent or good, 96 percent are pleased that Salt Lake City is hosting the Games, and 91 percent said it was definitely or probably worth it that Utah is hosting the Games, despite what the state has been through for the past seven years.
      Forget that old notion that we have an inferiority complex. Asked how other Olympic visitors would rate Salt Lake City's hosting job, 98 percent said excellent or good. Asked whether they think other Olympic visitors will have a favorable impression of Utah, every single one of them answered "yes."
      Although you might have predicted a different outcome, based on all the pre-Olympic media reports about Utah's staid image, it appears that the out-of-state Olympic-going public likes Utah and the 2002 Winter Games despite Utah's nightlife and the alcohol content of its beer.
      Nearly half of the out-of-state respondents agreed that "nightlife in Utah is limited," one-third agreed that it's difficult to obtain alcoholic drinks in Utah, and a third agreed it's "difficult to find good alcoholic beverage drinks in Utah." Still, 80 percent said Utah is neither provincial nor backward, and 90 percent said they would rate their Olympic experience so far as excellent or good.
      Fotheringham says he has seen the success of the Games up close. "I stood in the freezing cold for hours and still had a great time." The logistics were good, the volunteers were friendly, even the bus drivers from out of town were pleasant.
      Friendliness is high on the list of reasons people say they're having a good time here.
      "I didn't expect much (of Utah)," admitted Tom Hillesland of San Francisco, who dropped by a downtown visitor's center Thursday. But he says he's been impressed by the friendliness of volunteers and Utah residents. "It makes everyone feel good. I think it's rubbing off on the whole Olympic vibes."
      Even the scalpers are nice, Hillesland's buddy James O'Brien says. (Their only complaint was the lack of transportation between Salt Lake City and Park City.)
      "This is the friendliest place in the U.S.," said Peilin Xie, of Beijing by way of Washington, D.C., as he ate lunch at the Crossroads Plaza mall.
      "It's like everyone has taken tons of nice pills," Claire Terry of San Francisco said.

E-MAIL: jarvik@desnews.com