Other than a brief scare last week, when a World War Two aerial bomb was discovered in the city centre before being defused, the nine-day event has been described as a success.

But Bayer said that Innsbruck 2012 were not focused on making a quick profit from the event and rather focused on promoting the region and the country as a tourist destination, which he believes will create more economic benefits for the area in the long term.

"Our financial model is not really focused on making profit because we know that these Games are something that will help us going forward as a region, as a city and as a nation," Bayer told insidethegames.

"This competition is about proving that we are able to host big events and to show that we are a sporting country.

"It is also about helping tourism which is a very important source of income for us.

"So we want to use these Games to show everybody in the world that we have wonderful mountains and a lot of snow so that they come here and enjoy it.

"We want to invite the world here and we feel we can do that by hosting this event."

The budget for the event was set at around $22.5 million (£14.5 million/€17.35 million) with a separate pot of $121 million (£77.9 million/€93.2 million) spent to construct the Athletes' Village.

Despite the relatively modest amount of money, in comparison to the $284 million (£183 million/€219 million) that it cost to stage the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010, the competitions have run smoothly and Bayer said that the city is generating a lot through people staying in Innsbruck for the Games during a period that is normally quiet for the area.

"Even though we are not focused on making a profit, we are of course generated money through the Youth Winter Olympics," he said.

"All the hotels in Innsbruck were fully booked and you could not find a room in the city throughout the whole Games.

"Even in the surrounding villages, there are not many rooms and that is a great sign for us because January is not usually a popular month for Innsbruck in terms of tourism.

"So we are filled a tourism gap here because we have more than 12,000 accredited people in town.

"That obviously has a big economic effect on the region and the country."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
January 2012: Innsbruck 2012 brought to close as Olympic flag passed to Lillehammer 2016
January 2012: Innsbruck 2012 has "exceeded all expectations" claims Rogge
January 2012: Heavy snow causes chaos at Innsbruck 2012
January 2012: World War Two bomb disrupts Innsbruck 2012
January 2012: We have no concerns over future of Winter Youth Olympic Games, says IOC director