Association Signs Multi-Year Deal To Bring Annual Convention To Vancouver

Vancouver, BC (January 1, 2007) – The US-based Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) have announced their commitment to bring their annual convention to Vancouver in both 2010 and 2014, making them the first association to sign a multi-year deal to bring business to the expanded Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre (VCEC) facilities.

“This is a significant bid win for Vancouver,” said Sonia Baldissera, Tourism Vancouver’s manager of Meeting & Convention Sales for the Midwest USA, who took the lead on bringing the group to the city. “Tourism Vancouver’s investment in this market, as well as our financial commitment to expand the VCEC, is clearly paying off for our city.”

PAS, an alliance of pediatric research organizations, expects that their Vancouver conventions will attract 7,000 delegates in each of the years, resulting in a total of approximately 30,000 hotel room nights for the city. The expanded VCEC facilities will make it possible to host this group, which was previously too large to be held in Vancouver. Tourism Vancouver’s Be a Host program also played a role in bringing the group to the city by securing a letter of support from the UBC Department of Pediatrics and BC Children’s Hospital.

To bring a group such as this to Vancouver requires a close collaboration between Tourism Vancouver and partners such as the VCEC and the city’s hotels. “In all my years of working with destinations to select meeting sites, I have never seen a city work together like Vancouver to share what this wonderful site has to offer,” said Debbie Anagnostelis, meeting director for PAS.

“We’re elated that PAS has chosen to award us two meetings at once – it shows tremendous confidence in our expansion project,” said Barbara Maple, president of the VCEC. “This is a great example of our industry working together to win business for the expanded facilities of the VCEC.”

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan was also delighted with the announcement. “We know it is an important job to bring conventions such as this to Vancouver,” he said. “Meeting and conventions business creates a significant economic impact for our city, and leads to the creation of further jobs for our residents. This particular convention will also serve to highlight the pediatric research conducted within our city to leading medical organizations.”

Tourism Vancouver’s focus is on building exceptional customer relationships with meeting planners, travel influencers, travel media and independent tourists. The organization’s brand essence is about “exceeding expectations”.

Since opening in 1987, the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre has been British Columbia’s flagship convention facility — hosting more than 300 events and 600,000 delegate days each year, and generating more than $210 million in annual economic benefits. When its major new expansion completes, the VCEC will offer a combined total of nearly 500,000 square feet of function space and will serve as the international media and broadcast centre for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2010.

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