A boost for business

Local employers such as Trofe, Fjellpulken and the Moelven Group won contracts, took initiative and showed creativity. The construction, manufacturing and producer services (generally goods produced for other manufacturers) sectors were the main beneficiaries of the Games. A 1997 study showed that 60 per cent of managers agreed that the Olympic Games had had a positive industrial impact.

Tourism was also boosted. Bed capacity in the region increased from 8,400 at the end of the 1980s to 14,600 after the Games, while a large number of temporary accommodation facilities – offering some 15,000 beds – were converted for other purposes afterwards.

On average, the volume of visitors to the three municipalities of Lillehammer, Oyer and Gausdal grew by 100 per cent from 1989 to 1995. For Lillehammer itself, the growth was 59 per cent, while the other two municipalities grew by 225 per cent (Oyer) and 76 per cent (Gausdal). After 1997, the development of tourism in the region stagnated, whereas the national development was still growing, particularly in the main cities. This suggest that the long-term benefits of the Games in terms of tourism benefitted more Norway as a whole than the specific Lillehammer region, as the Games improved the international positioning of Norway.

While the Olympic Games created some employment in Norway, with a number of new businesses in the hotel and restaurant sector created, a post-Games survey reported that the employment effect was temporary. It is estimated that, three years after the Games, around 250-to-350 full-time positions had been created, while by 1997, development in the region had stagnated – in contrast to national development, which continued to grow, particularly in the cities.