Canada 2010

The Dual presence of the House of Switzerland in Vancouver and Whistler offered a highly varied program of activities and the possibility of joining in the medal celebrations of the Swiss athletes as well as of following the games live on large screens. 

The official Swiss guest center at the 2010 Olympic Games in Canada was operated from 5 – 28 February 2010 in the form of two houses at the two competition venues of Vancouver and Whistler: The popular “Bridges” excursion restaurant on Granville Island in Vancouver and the highly regarded, centrally located “Mountain Club” in Whistler functioned as meeting places for the Swiss Olympic team and they were also used in cooperation with the Confederation, the project partners and Swiss Olympic for receptions, tending to customers, media conferences and medal celebrations.

With the motto “Two houses, one country – Switzerland at its best“, the guests were offered a varied program of activities as well as the opportunity to celebrate the successes of the medal-winning Swiss athletes and to follow live the games on die big screens. For the first time ever, SRG SSR idée suisse set up its anchor studio in the Swiss guest house in Vancouver and transmitted the games directly from there to Switzerland. Both of Switzerland’s official guest houses in Canada additionally acknowledged the importance of the French language in the host country and in Switzerland through their bilingual names of House of Switzerland and Maison de la Suisse.

A number of tastings were offered with the collaboration of various partners which caught the attention of the media and the interest of a large public. Among them were Ricola Day, Biscuit Day, Globi Day, Lindt Chocolate Tasting, Nespresso Tasting and Raclette Tasting. Among the high points of the event were the opening of the two houses on 5 and 6 February with 200 guests and thousands of visitors; the reception in Vancouver on 11 February and in Whistler on 13 February by the President of the Confederation, Doris Leuthard; the Swiss Valentine’s Day with a large-scale chocolate competition on 14 February; and the Charity Auction which raised 10,000 Canadian dollars for a charity organisation for homeless people in Vancouver.