The Olympics are an odd phenomenon. Every few years the world focuses on one little corner of the globe and the sporting events that are taking place there. While the winter Olympics may not appeal to every nation they are nonetheless important for those 80 nations taking part in the events in Vancouver and Whistler at the moment. 

With so much going on in and around Vancouver it is no surprise that SMS is being used to help keep visitors informed. Vancouver Tourism, in collaboration with Satsport, has created an interactive guide for visitors to the 20th winter Olympic Games - the Tourism Vancouver 2010.

Through SMS messaging the mobile city guide application keeps users informed about events, the weather – even news flashes. Users can also get information about restaurants (and make reservations via SMS) and transportation in and around Vancouver and Whistler. The smartphone application also gives the user integrated street navigation for Vancouver and Whistler – helping lost tourists to find their way around town.

Given that Vancouver (which is hosting the ice skating, snowboarding and ice hockey events) is about a two hour drive from Whistler (home to the Alpine, Nordic, and sliding events) I can see why street navigation and SMS alerts about the weather would be highly desirable. And with several thousand people descending on Vancouver and Whistler using SMS to make a reservation means that getting a meal shouldn’t be too difficult.

For those of us not lucky enough to be in Vancouver at the moment we will have to amuse ourselves by keeping on top of the events with SMS alerts from one of the numerous media sites offering the service. True it’s not as exciting as being there, but we can’t all be that lucky.