Canada cuts a dash in the meetings, conventions and incentive travel sector

Best practices mission brings the wow factor home while Canada steals the limelight at IMEX America

2012-11-14 — /travelprnews.com/ — The business travel marketplace offers a high-paced series of sales opportunities for the meetings, conventions and incentive travel (MC&IT) team at the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC). As soon as one conference door closes, another one opens in a different country.

CTC News is hot on the team’s heels to collect another round-up of what’s making news in the MC&IT world.

• Not quiet on the western front: a high-powered delegation of 17 Atlantic Canada MC&IT tourism professionals came to British Columbia last month for a best practices mission, led by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and assisted by CTC together with Tourism Vancouver, Tourism Victoria and Tourism Kelowna. The mission’s primary objectives Oct. 15-19 were to explore how the MC&IT sector can unite across Canada, sharing knowledge, wow factors and tips on partnerships, functions and opportunities in emerging markets. The mission blended informational presentations on how destinations can win businesses—including one by Michele Saran, CTC executive director, MC&IT, about CTC markets, strategies and partnerships—alongside visits to potential MC&IT sites and tourism experiences. Michele McKenzie, CTC president and CEO, also made a special trip to meet the group and welcome them to Vancouver.
• What happens in Vegas: Canada had a strong presence at IMEX America Oct. 9-11, in Las Vegas, NV. More than 50 Canadian tourism-industry partners teamed up with CTC at the pavilion, which hosted 13 hosted-buyer presentations to educate 140+ global planners about our country’s meeting products and services. In total, the pavilion had 766 completed appointments. Pavilion visitors enjoyed Canadian pancake breakfasts—with maple syrup, of course— each morning, while fresh popcorn and cold Canadian beer were served in the afternoon. More than 300 meeting pros also entered a contest to win one of 12 prize trips for two to Canada.  CTC’s delegation was led by Michele Saran together with Robin Thompson, director, Meeting & Convention Sales Development, Susan Frei, director, International Meetings & Incentives, Heather Phelps, director, International MC&IT Partnerships and Melanie Kuranda, director Midwest Sales Development. America’s mega event for incentive travel, events and meetings built off its debut last year: more than 4,100 travel-trade attendees, including 2,400-plus hosted buyers, poured through the doors of the Sands Expo and Convention Center at The Venetian and The Palazzo.
• Trend-setters: Industry pros looking to stay abreast of the latest social-media trends affecting the MC&IT sphere should subscribe to Meetings Dot Canada Dot Travel. Steve Felahis, CTC director, Southeast MC&IT Sales Development, Convention & Incentive Travel Sales, curates this online newspaper, which has a special focus on Canada travel stories and news from the leisure, business and technology sectors.

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