Vancouver tops in North America for drawing international conventions

[SpongeG]

Vancouver tops in North America for drawing international conventions

The International Congress and Convention Association has ranked Vancouver as North America's top destination for international meetings.

In their annual statistics report, the Amsterdam-based ICCA ranks cities based on the number of international meetings hosted in the previous year. Vancouver hosted 54 meetings in 2008, ranking 31st in the worldwide standing but first in North America.

The top cities in the world for international associations were Paris and Vienna, which both hosted 139 meetings in 2008.

The United States was the top-ranked country, hosting 507 meetings. Canada ranked ninth, hosting 231.

It’s at least the third time Vancouver has been the No. 1 destination in North America for international associations, according to Tourism Vancouver. Most international associations have their headquarters in Europe but typically would have a North American chapter. The associations tend to have large memberships and hold large meetings as they have members worldwide.

In 2007, Vancouver also came first, being ranked 26th. The city hosted 49 meetings that year.

B.C. Tourism Minister Bill Bennett said in a news release that the recent opening of the new Vancouver Convention Centre is expected to bring even more international conferences to the city.

Tourism Vancouver targets international conventions not only because they are large but also because they tend to generate additional revenues for the city. Participants often add a few extra days to their stay because they travel a long distance to get here.

The next international convention at the Vancouver Convention Centre is July 21 when 1,000 members of the International Association of Insolvency Practitioners meet in the centre’s West building.

Meetings and conventions added $585 million in direct visitor spending to the Vancouver economy in 2007, according to Tourism Vancouver.

ghamilton@vancouversun.com

http://www.vancouversun.com/Travel/V...644/story.html

[djmk]

i'm surprised its vancouver and not somewhere on the east coast.

the east coast is closer to major metro areas including NY, Chicago and Europe

maybe our more relaxed border is a benefit to canadian cities in general.

[raggedy13]

I find it amazing we could get that rank when we didn't even have the expansion completed yet. Oh well, now that we've conquered NA we can focus our efforts on moving up the worldwide rankings with our new expansion.

[wrenegade]

Well it looks like our 800 million dollar convention centre will have no problem paying for itself. I am surprised we ranked so high, I though for sure that Vegas would be number 1.

[Canadian Mind]

Originally Posted by awvan

Well it looks like our 800 million dollar convention centre will have no problem paying for itself. I am surprised we ranked so high, I though for sure that Vegas would be number 1.

Thinking worldwide though, if we are top in North America ond only 37th worldwide...

Would have expected New york to be one of the top international picks, and taking the crown for NA.

Though I'm going to assume that in Europe International is a 4 hour drive while in NA it is a 12 hour flight.

[Spork]

I think that their definition of "meeting" might exclude something. Perhaps meetings don't include exhibitions or conventions or something. It is surely definition-related or Vegas would totally be #1!

[Hot Rod]

Vegas doesn't really draw International Conventions, Vancouver and Chicago do, however.

In fact, Chicago has the world's largest convention centre - McCormick Place.

But most of Chicagos is domestic big business. New York actually doesn't have as many as you would expect, considering it's very large CBD.

Vancouver was VERY smart to build the convention centre expansion - this will DEFINITELY move the city up in the world-wide rankings, and probably ensure it iwll be #1 in North America for the forseeable future - unless the USA relaxes visa restrictions (then Vegas and Chicago will fight for the title).

[Lindberg]

If you want to see the entire list of citie ranked in 2008, go here:

http://www.iccaworld.com/cnt/docs/20...y-Rankings.pdf