Initially known as the “Winter Sports Week of the VIII Olympiad”, Chamonix 1924 was officially recognised as the first Olympic Winter Games in 1926. The Games popularised winter sports, fostered international cooperation and laid the groundwork for influential organisations such as the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and the French Ski Federation (FFS). They also helped Chamonix establish itself as a global tourist destination, which today has over eight million overnight visitors each year – spread equally between the winter and summer seasons.

Renowned for its winter sports facilities, St Moritz was chosen to host the 1928 Olympic Winter Games, elevating the resort’s global profile. A total of 464 athletes from 25 NOCs took part – up from the 16 nations and 258 athletes that participated in Chamonix 1924 – reflecting the growing appeal of the event. Building on this success, St Moritz was again selected to host the 1948 Games, re-using all five of the 1928 Olympic venues. St Moritz has since become a prominent destination, with a firmly established reputation for both sport and culture.

The Zugspitze, the highest peak in the German Alps, served as the backdrop for the fourth edition of the Olympic Winter Games, which were hosted by the newly combined town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Olympic Winter Games Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 continue to cast a dark shadow and remain a source of debate nearly a century on. While some argue that these Games should not be remembered, others point out that they provide an opportunity to remind the world of the harsh lessons history has taught us.

The Games significantly boosted Cortina d’Ampezzo’s appeal as a high-quality tourist destination and contributed to a surge in visitors. The town’s population is about 6,000 in the off-season but swells to 50,000 during the winter months. In 2026, it will once again welcome the Games, hosting skiing, curling and snowboarding competitions for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Milano Cortina 2026.

The 1964 Games boosted tourism and improved infrastructure in Innsbruck and the Tyrol region. Twelve years later, stepping in to replace Denver as the host city, Innsbruck was able to build on this legacy, hosting the Games once more and enhancing its reputation as a tourist and business destination. Having proved to be a skilled host of major events, in 2012 the city hosted the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG). With 32.7 per cent of overnight stays in 2022, Tyrol is the most visited region of the country, according to Austria’s Federal Ministry of Economy.

The city benefited from improved infrastructure for transport and commerce, economic growth and increased interest in winter sports throughout Asia. According to the Hokkaido Bureau of International Trade and Industry, the investments made in preparation for Sapporo 1972 resulted in 3.2 per cent growth in the income of Sapporo citizens every year between 1967 and 1972.

Staged 48 years after Lake Placid’s first Olympic Games, these Games cemented the city’s status as one of the USA’s major winter sports capitals. The 1980 Olympic venues – some dating back to 1932 – are all still in use today. Lake Placid’s sports facilities, which include the non-Olympic sites of Gore Mountain and Belleayre Mountain, attracted 1.5 million visits in 2018/19, and generated a total of USD 156 million in visitor spending.

The Games boosted the city’s image and pride, stimulating development for transport and tourism. They also led to a growth in winter sports participation in the region during the 1980s, as locals made use of the venues that had been refurbished or built to stage them. The Bosnian War of 1992-1995 saw those venues come under deliberate attack. Their subsequent reconstruction reflected Sarajevo’s pride in its Olympic heritage and its status as the only Olympic host city in this part of Europe.

Lillehammer 1994 was an extraordinary success for Norway, triggering the country’s dominance in winter sports that continues to this day. The event was hailed as the first “green” Games for its thoughtful approach to construction: venues were built with sensitivity to nature in mind, and the project as a whole increased the environmental awareness of the Norwegian population. All 10 of the new venues for 1994 are still in active use today.Nine of the 10 competition venues from 1994 were re-used when the Olympic flame returned to Lillehammer for the Winter Youth Olympic Games 2016.

The Games served as a springboard for establishing Utah as one of the world's premier high-performance and recreational sports destinations. Since 2002, Utah has staged more than 175 international winter sports events. It is now a year-round recreational sports hub and an established training hub for world-class athletes, and home to three US sports governing bodies.

The Games helped improve education, health and social inclusion. They also promoted Indigenous culture, enhanced literacy programmes, inspired sustainable infrastructure, and boosted the performance of Canadian athletes at subsequent Olympic Winter Games. These legacies continue to benefit communities in the region and contribute to the well-being of the population.

The Games helped to expand winter sport throughout Asia through various programmes at the Olympic venues. For example, hosted by the PyeongChang 2018 Legacy Foundation, the “Soohorang and Bandabi Sports Camps” have engaged young people from all over Korea in sports-based values education programmes. In 2024, the region is hosting the Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024, re-using seven of the nine PyeongChang 2018 competition venues, and demonstrating its commitment to continue leveraging the legacy of those Games.

More than 346 million people in China engaged in winter sports as a result of the Games, which created lasting, wide-ranging social and economic benefits for local people. According to the China Tourism Academy, China’s winter leisure tourism sector is expected to welcome more than 520 million visitors and earned revenue of more than CNY 720 billion (approx. USD 107 billion) during the 2024-2025 season.