The leader of the Park City Chamber/Bureau plans to travel to Paris for the Summer Olympics to learn about the staging of a Games, highlighting that the work in Utah toward hosting a second Winter Olympics stretches beyond the committee seeking the Games and government institutions.

Jennifer Wesselhoff, the president and CEO of the Chamber/Bureau, is scheduled to visit the French capital July 20-30. The dates cover the International Olympic Committee meetings on the eve of the Games when the 2034 Winter Olympics are widely expected to be awarded to Salt Lake City, as well as the opening days of the Olympics.

Wesselhoff has never attended an Olympics. She will not be part of the official delegation from Utah, but she is coordinating some of the itinerary with the delegation. She is traveling on behalf of the Chamber/Bureau, which is funding the trip.

---

---

“First and foremost, this is a learning opportunity. It will be an opportunity to experience the Games, see how communities activate and get an idea of the size, scope and scale of an event of this caliber,” Wesselhoff said in a prepared response to The Park Record.

She said she has arranged to be part of tours designed for delegations traveling to the Games from outside of France and she will participate in what is known as a host city experience program.

---

---

The program is meant “to help attendees understand the expected role and responsibilities when hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games and to learn from the city of Paris’s experience in hosting large international sporting events,” she said.

“The program is designed for cities and their partner organizations who will bid or host future Olympic Games to allow them to understand what will be expected from them,” Wesselhoff said.

She described one of the tours as focusing on the legacy of the Games in Paris. It will “showcase improvements made by the city of Paris to make the city more attractive, sustainable, inclusive, sporty and leave a lasting games legacy for the people of Paris,” she said. Other tours will stress “some of the most ambitious projects undertaken by the city of Paris since 2014,” such as in regard to urban planning, mobility and housing.

Wesselhoff, meanwhile, also provided a list of topics she wants to address during the trip. They include:

• “How to maximize the positive aspects of the Games experience while mitigating the potential negative impacts to the communities.”

• “To hear best practices on how to leverage the Games for the benefit of our community over the next ten years.”

• “How small businesses can connect to and benefit from the Games.”

• “To get a better understanding of host communities’ roles and responsibilities.”

• “What can we expect for the economy leading up to the Games, during the Games and after the Games.”

•  “How can we make the Games the most sustainable, net positive Games in 2034?”

• “What do we need to think about today in order to have the infrastructure we need in 10 years?”

Wesselhoff said the trip is also notable as the Park City area, which is crucial to the plans to stage a second Winter Olympics in the state, continues to hold a role in the efforts.

“Many events are planned to take place in the Wasatch Back, and it’s really important that our community has a seat at the table at every stage of the planning process to make sure that our goals and priorities are top of mind,” she said.

Wesselhoff is among those from the Park City area who are traveling to Paris on fact-finding missions. Park City Mayor Nann Worel and Malena Stevens, the chair of the Summit County Council, are also scheduled to be in Paris.