New Bid Win Heats Up Convention Centre Expansion Business

Vancouver, BC (Dec 10, 2008) – As a direct result of the expanded convention centre facilities, Tourism Vancouver and the Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC) have successfully won the bid to host another major convention in 2012.

From April 9 – 19, 2012, the American Educational Research Association (AERA) will bring its annual convention to Vancouver for 11 days. The conference – which has the distinction of being the largest room night generating conference ever booked for Vancouver out of the Washington, DC area market, is expected to bring approximately 14,000 delegates to the city, resulting in almost 30,000 room nights and some $9 million in direct visitor spending.

“There is no doubt that this booking is a direct result of the expanded convention centre, as well as our collective efforts in championing Vancouver as a preferred meeting destination,” explains Geoffrey Howes, chair of Tourism Vancouver. “Bringing the AERA meeting to the city shows that we’re building a solid foundation for the post-Olympic period.”

Tourism Vancouver and the VCC submitted a proposal to host this conference in an earlier year, but were unsuccessful partly because of the limited size of the convention centre.

“Though Vancouver was a strong contender to host the AERA event previously, we lost this substantial business to another city because we just weren’t able to accommodate a convention of this magnitude,” says David Podmore, chair of the Vancouver Convention Centre. “Clearly, the expanded convention centre facilities are now helping to put Vancouver on the world map in terms of bidding for and winning major conferences.”

“It is wonderful to now have the ability for Vancouver to host a convention of this size and scope in our expanded centre,” added Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. “In securing major convention business in the post-Olympic decade, Tourism Vancouver and the Vancouver Convention Centre are creating substantial economic benefits for the city in terms of conferences, meetings and tourism visitation.”

AERA is the most prominent international professional organization with the primary goal of advancing educational research and its practical application. Its 22,000 members are educators and administrators, along with directors of research, testing or evaluation in federal, state and local agencies – as well as counsellors, evaluators, graduate students and behavioural scientists.

Tourism Vancouver, along with partners such as the Vancouver Convention Centre and the hotel community, spearheads the Be A Host program, which encourages local British Columbians to work with the tourism industry to bring their colleagues to Vancouver for a national or international conference. For more information on the Be A Host program, please visit http://www.tourismvancouver.com/meetings/host/.

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