Tourism officials in Whistler, B.C., are working to dispel a myth that there's no place to stay for spectators during the 2010 Winter Games.

But while they're stressing ample availability, albeit at high prices, Olympic organizers are conceding they're still struggling to find space for themselves.

Organizers are looking at a worst-case scenario of busing workers and volunteers up from Vancouver to staff the alpine and Nordic ski events if they can't get all the accommodations they need.

"We're transporting people from Squamish and Pemberton for sure, regardless, and if we needed additional workforce transportation that was based out of Vancouver, that's part of the solution as well," Maureen Douglas, director of operations communications for the 2010 Olympics organizing committee, told a media briefing on Monday.

"But we'd really like volunteers and workforce to be as close to their venue as possible."

Ongoing negotiations

The organizing committee, known as VANOC, won't say exactly how many people it's looking to accommodate in the Sea-to-Sky corridor, nor how many rooms they are short.

Douglas said that's because negotiations for space are ongoing and they don't want to jeopardize the plans.

One idea had been to use area schools to house workers, but that deal collapsed.

Another hope had been a bylaw passed by the municipality that would make it easier for people to rent out their homes to Olympics workers. But only two applications have been received for a permit under the new system.

Organizers are still examining the possibility of using a cruise ship in Squamish to house as many as 500 people and are also appealing to people to volunteer to house workers in exchange for event tickets, if they register their homes by June 1.

They have, however, finally secured all 3,000 rooms required to house Olympic officials, sponsors and the media in Whistler.

Aggressive campaign

Meanwhile, Tourism Whistler is keeping up an aggressive campaign to stress to spectators that there are potentially as many as 2,000 rooms available to them.

So far, officials say they've helped about 150 individuals and groups get rooms in the mountain resort, with an average price per bedroom of $600 per night.

Prices for rooms in Whistler during the Games range anywhere from 25 to 50 per cent more than the usual peak-season rates.

Officials said the central booking agency for the municipality, Whistler.com, has already sold $1 million worth of inventory for February 2010.

"The inventory that we have on is going quite quickly and we are getting new inventory on every day," said Diana Lyons, vice-president of operations for Tourism Whistler.

Tourism officials say one challenge they're facing is that people who usually rent their homes during winter months are opting to stick around so they can take advantage of the Games.