This aerial view of Vancouver incorporates a rendering of the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre expansion (green roof), which will include a glass-walled connector to the existing facility (“Five Sails” shown left).
Photo courtesy of Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre |
By Diana Rowe
You would think that a city with Vancouver, British Columbia’s breathtaking, natural beauty and worldly, sophisticated flair wouldn’t need any help to attract business. And it really doesn’t. The point is, the folks at the Vancouver Convention and Visitors Bureau (VCVB) never take their city’s appeal or your business for granted. The bureau’s rebranding process has yielded a “service edge” commitment program with a focus on “exceeding expectations” in customer relationships that not only continues to attract coveted meeting and convention business, it was a major contributing factor in VCVB landing the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The expansion, set to open in spring 2009, features floor-to-ceiling windows for magnificent harbor views.
Photo courtesy of Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre |
Interestingly, one of the little known factors in Vancouver’s Olympic bid involved current President and CEO of Meeting Professionals International Bruce MacMillan. MacMillan was one of VCVB’s vice presidents in 1996 when he came up with the idea of hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Admittedly, the idea was considered by some to be far-fetched because Vancouver did not have the facilities to host an event of such magnitude. The first challenge was to gain the right to become Canada’s bid city while competing with Calgary and Québec City.
MacMillan’s far-reaching idea sparked the long road to the city’s Olympic dreams. For meeting planners, Vancouver’s winning the bid for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games means that infrastructure upgrades, such as large-scale sports venues, expansion of the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre (VCEC), and improved transportation will make the city well-equipped for meetings and conventions of any size or scope for years to come.
Accolades
The Olympics notwithstanding, Vancouver wins accolades: The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) recently ranked Vancouver as North America’s top destination for international meetings. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2006 business trip index for 127 cities worldwide ranked Vancouver as the number-one best destination for business travel. The index took into consideration cost as well as comfort-related factors such as crime rates, climate, transportation and recreation.
Vancouver’s location in the southwest corner of British Columbia on Canada’s Pacific Coast, just two hours north of Seattle, makes it a convenient port of entry not only for Americans, but for European and Asian 
groups as well. Vancouver International Airport, consistently rated as one of North America’s top airports, is currently undergoing an $860 million construction project to meet increased demands created by the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Exceptional cuisine, the rich culture of a burgeoning Asian community and vibrant Chinatown, a wide diversity of natural environments and attendant outdoor activities, first-class hotels and outstanding facilities will make the Vancouver experience a memorable one.
Unique venues abound, including the Vancouver Museum’s Joyce Walley Learning Centre, which offers unmatched views of English Bay and the city skyline; the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre; the University of British Columbia’s Chan Centre for the Performing Arts; the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue; Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese garden; Museum of Anthropology; Vancouver Aquarium; Harbour Cruises; Grouse Mountain (just 15 minutes from downtown); and perhaps the most unique of all, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, which stretches 450 feet across and 250 feet above Capilano River in a West Coast rain forest. The 27-acre park, located just minutes from downtown, features a special event planning team and a variety of venues that accommodate groups of up to 700 attendees.
Factor in myriad outdoor adventures and activities from golf to white-water rafting to snow skiing, and British Columbia’s Vancouver is a destination bursting with possibilities.
Meeting Demand
Last year, the meetings and conventions industry spent nearly $577 million in Vancouver. To keep up with the demand for meeting and convention space and in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, the VCEC is undergoing an $800 million expansion, with an anticipated completion in the spring of 2009. The VCEC, located on the waterfront in downtown, has magnificent views of the sparkling harbor and spectacular snow-capped Coast Mountains.
When the expansion is complete, meeting, exhibit and function space will total nearly 500,000 square feet,
The H.R. MacMillan Space Centre and Vancouver Museum complex offers multimedia capabilities and event space for up to 200. The museum’s Joyce Walley Learning Centre features one of the best views of the city.
Photo courtesy of Tourism Vancouver |
adding close to 340,000 square feet of new space featuring a sophisticated fiber optic network. The new facility will be seamlessly connected to the current Centre and will offer additional retail and parking space.
The VCEC’s current 150,000 square feet of meeting and convention space will be fully operational during the expansion by providing easy access between the East and West buildings.
“Although many planners know Vancouver, winning the Olympic Winter Games bid certainly put the beautiful city back on the map for meetings,” said Denean Perry, event operations manager of Houston, TX-based BMC Software Inc., a leading provider of enterprise management solutions. “Vancouver’s Convention Centre expansion makes it possible for planners who might not have considered Vancouver to reconsider the destination.”
This fall, Perry’s 2,000 attendees will travel to Vancouver for their second annual BMC UserWorld conference. According to Perry, “We wanted an exciting destination that our customers would enjoy visiting, a destination large enough to accommodate our sleepig room night requirements, and a city with a good infrastructure to support a conference of our size. The overall quality of the hotels and convention center along with the convenient layout of Vancouver make it a perfect destination for our upcoming user conference.
“Tourism Vancouver was instrumental in bringing our group to Vancouver,” said Perry. “From offering tools to
What better place to float an idea than during a meeting held aboard a Harbour Cruises & Events vessel, which tours Vancouver’s inner harbor. The boats can be reserved for group charters.
Photo courtesy of Tourism Vancouver |
help manage our room blocks to helping with hotel deadlines and setting up site visits, we could not have booked this October program in Vancouver without their assistance.”
With BMC’s anticipated high attendance, Perry has selected four hotels to host her delegates. The first three — The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, The Fairmont Waterfront and Pan Pacific Vancouver — were selected for their close proximity to each other. The Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel was selected for overflow.
The AAA Five Diamond, 504-room Pan Pacific Vancouver enjoys the city’s best location in Canada Place, a mixed use facility on Vancouver’s bustling waterfront that is also home to the Alaska cruise ship terminal, the Convention Centre and CN IMAX theater.
Harbor Views
Seventy percent of the Pan Pacific Vancouver’s meeting space offers harbor views and/or natural light, producing one of Vancouver’s most in-demand event spaces. More than 42,000 square feet of conference and event space is anchored by the Pan Pacific’s Crystal Pavilion, an elegant ballroom accommodating up to 700. Eight spacious meeting rooms with floor-to-ceiling views offer a host of other opportunities for a successful meeting.
Location and convenience play a key role in the meeting capabilities of the VCEC. More than 1,000 first-class hotel rooms are onsite and another 13,000 rooms are within walking distance. Plus, Vancouver is a great walking city — clean, green, safe and easily accessible.
Downtown Vancouver is home to the recently renovated 644-room Hyatt Regency Vancouver. Guest rooms
The Pan Pacific Vancouver shares its prime waterfront location with the cruise ship terminal and the Convention Centre. Nearly two-thirds of the hotel’s 42,000 square feet of meeting space offers harbor views.
Photo courtesy of Pan Pacific Vancouver |
feature floor-to-ceiling windows, Hyatt’s Grand Bed, wall-mounted LCD TV, and luxe bath and amenities. The hotel has two restaurants, two lounges, a health club and full-service business center.
The Hyatt Regency Vancouver’s function space totals 45,000 square feet with 30 flexible meeting rooms on four levels. The view from the top level, which divides into four private salons, is spectacular — city, mountains and ocean offer a dramatic backdrop for meetings or other special events. The function space includes the 13,940-square-foot, state-of-the-art Regency Ballroom and 9,665 square feet of prefunction space. Its location in the heart of downtown offers the best of Vancouver just steps away.
The 376-room Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver — within easy walking distance of the Convention Centre as well as arts, sports and entertainment venues — is located atop the fashionable Pacific Centre. Widely recognized for its conference facilities, this Four Seasons boasts 12 meeting rooms in its more than 21,000 square feet of meeting and function space.
Another property in the heart of downtown is the Century Plaza Hotel & Spa. With a brand new innovative lobby design, the Century Plaza Hotel & Spa offers 236 spacious rooms nearby some of the best sights, restaurants and shopping in Vancouver and only seven blocks from the VCEC. This property offers six recently renovated meeting rooms, including the Century Ballroom on the lower lobby level right beside Yuk Yuks Comedy Club.
Proximity To VCEC
There are numerous other hotels conveniently located minutes from the VCEC. The 438-room Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside is just a short stroll along the waterfront “Seawall” promenade to the VCEC. Although it’s convenient to shopping, Historic Gastown and the 1,000-acre Stanley park, the Renaissance Vancouver’s accommodations facing Coal Harbour make it a pleasure to just relax in the room until it’s time to gather in the hotel’s 18,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
Also on Coal Harbour, The Westin Bayshore is the city’s venue of choice for high-profile events. The 
property, connected to Stanley Park via the Seawall, features 511 guest rooms and 29 meeting rooms, totaling 48,000 square feet.
Vancouver also charmed Gord Kozak, sales operations for GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Inc., the Oakville, Ontario-based company.
Kozak selected Vancouver based on the weather, as their annual sales and marketing national meeting takes place in March. “Vancouver is the natural choice since their spring season offers the best and warmest in Canada. In addition, good air lifts and connections into Vancouver are available from every region in Canada.”
After advance site inspections of several downtown Vancouver properties, Kozak selected the Pan Pacific Vancouver to host his 120 attendees. “The Pan Pacific had the best meeting room facilities and provides a spectacular view of the surrounding area — mountains, ocean views and Stanley Park. Once onsite, the service and hotel staff handled several on-the-fly changes we requested without hesitation. Plus the food was better than any other venue I’ve attended for a national meeting in my 22 years in the business.”
Dinner Cruise
The Pan Pacific Vancouver’s prime location gave Kozak the opportunity to offer his attendees two well-received offsite events without major transportation issues. “One evening for the entire group, we booked a four-hour dinner cruise. The yacht was docked only a 10-minute ride from the hotel. The captain took us out to sea, and on the way back, we sailed along the shoreline of downtown Vancouver. Most attendees had never been on a luxury ocean yacht.”
Another GlaxoSmithKline-hosted event occurred at the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park, about a 20-
Sewell’s Marina in Howe Sound West Vancouver offers groups the thrill of high-speed wildlife eco-tours, teambuilding scavenger hunts using self-drive boats and group fishing charters.
Photo courtesy of Tourism Vancouver |
minute bus ride from downtown, and included dinner and an aquarium tour featuring a wide array of marine life, including the white beluga whales.
Judy Reel, performance solutions manager for the West Des Moines, IA-based ITAGroup Inc., a performance improvement company, also noted the importance of offering sponsored activities for her client’s top sales conference. “Traditionally this client gravitated toward the fun-and-sun destinations, but this time wanted something a little different and edgier. I’d traveled with other customers to Vancouver and was impressed, so I encouraged this client to arrange a site visit. When she did, she also fell in love with Vancouver.”
The Pan Pacific Vancouver and The Fairmont Waterfront provided accommodations for the attendees. “I’ve discovered that Vancouver hotels are some of the top-ranked luxury hotels,” said Reel, “but equally important is the proximity of these properties to the Convention Centre, cutting the aggravation and cost of transfers.”
More than 300 of The Fairmont Waterfront’s 489 guest rooms overlook the harbor, offering spectacular views of the majestic mountain peaks. The other guest rooms have splendid city skyline views. For planners requiring onsite meeting space, The Fairmont Waterfront offers 24,000 total square feet of function space, and is connected to the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre via an enclosed walkway. Reel noted, “If it wasn’t for the size of the conference center, we could not have even considered Vancouver for our meeting. Generally hotels don’t have large enough ballrooms to accommodate the size of our group, so meal functions and meeting breakouts would have to be held at a nearby convention center.”
For planners considering Vancouver, Reel offers this tip: “Offer a wide range of activities to incorporate the season into the meeting experience. For the top qualifiers for our February event, we offered all-day skiing or dog sledding at Whistler. Our second-tier qualifiers enjoyed an afternoon of skiing at Grouse Mountain.”
A two-hour drive from Vancouver, Whistler is the site of alpine and nordic venues for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It functions as an all-season resort, with summer hiking, mountain biking, golf and water sports, but shines as a mecca for snow-struck attendees with terrific downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing.
Grouse Mountain, a convenient 15 minutes from downtown Vancouver, is renowned for its winter sports and summer activities such as helicopter tours, Lumberjack Show and the Skyride, America’s largest aerial
A unique teambuilding event for Santa Clara, CA-based PMC-Sierra Inc. introduced attendees to the popular Canadian sport of curling. Custom-made jerseys featured the PMC logo on the front.
Photo by www.brianhawkesphoto.com |
tramway. Grouse Mountain offers a variety of both indoor and outdoor venues for groups of 15 to 500 people.
Reel continued, “Since February weather is unpredictable, we created a casual open house at the Pan Pacific Vancouver, selecting meeting space with panoramic views. Besides food and beverage, the hospitality room offered other amenities: chair massage, mini-casino, putt-putt and espresso coffee shop.”
Other optional activities offered by Reel’s client included a general city tour, including sushi-making lessons, harbor tour with lunch, sailing and the Museum of Anthropology; or attendees could select a self-guided tour of the city, utilizing exclusive trolleys.
As an independent planner and developer of meeting content, Sally Minnix, president of Indialantic, FL-based Minnix & Associates Inc., designed five Vancouver meetings for Santa Clara-based semiconductor company, PMC-Sierra. The company’s worldwide sales meetings ranged in size from 150 to 375.
For larger meetings, Minnix selected the Pan Pacific Vancouver for its attractive meeting space and Five Diamond service. “The Pan Pacific renovated their meeting space a couple of years ago, and their consolidated breakout meeting space is the best way to do business — with a stunning view of the harbor and the mountains. You can see cruise ships coming in and out of ports. Whenever you look out a window, the views are a ‘wow!’”
Intimate Setting
Even though the Pan Pacific is fully capable of catering to small groups, Minnix selected The Sutton Place Hotel, Vancouver to change the tone of the meeting for groups under 200. “The Sutton Place is a warm, cozy, boutique-type hotel, and our attendees loved it. The intimate setting sets the right tone for any meeting where people need to mix, mingle and re-establish global business relationships.”
With a taste of European charm, The Sutton Place Hotel is one of only two AAA Five Diamond-rated 
properties in Canada — the Pan Pacific Vancouver is the other. Located in the heart of downtown, The Sutton Place is near nightlife, entertainment and shopping on Robson Street. Their 396 recently renovated guest rooms complement the more than 14,000 square feet of meeting and function space with 16 sunlit meeting rooms to provide the perfect setting for intimate meetings.
According to Minnix, “Most staff have long tenures and act like a family, from the general manager on down, and I was treated as a VIP. Even after a couple of years absence, I exited a taxi, and the doorman called me by name. One day, I made the offhanded comment that I was ready for a glass of champagne, and while I was having dinner at an offsite restaurant, a bottle of champagne appeared — compliments of the hotel’s general manager.”
Minnix continued, “Vancouver is known as Hollywood North, as the film industry is huge here, and many movie folks stay at the Sutton Place. This makes for some interesting star-gazing, especially at their Gerard Lounge, a small bar with dark wood, roaring fireplace and cozy nooks.”
Minnix capitalized on Canada’s national sport by incorporating it into her program. “Hockey is like a religion in Canada,” said Minnix, “so to celebrate their sports culture, I created a hockey theme for last January’s meeting. The challenge was that I knew nothing about hockey. Another challenge was that ice in Vancouver is like gold, and rinks are usually booked a year in advance. After searching, begging and bartering, I found the North Shore Winter Club (NSWC). I flew up to talk to them, took one look at their curling and hockey facilities, and knew it was the right venue for 250.”
Hockey Theme
Minnix then recruited 18 hockey players from the client’s company. “At the event, instead of two company teams, I surprised my client and their attendees and brought in the Vancouver Canucks alumni, thanks to the NSWC, to challenge the PMC team. In a really fun setting, the Canucks won, but after the game, the hockey players mingled with the PMC players and attendees, signing autographs and chit-chatting.”
Keeping with the hockey theme, Minnix ordered jerseys as giveaways with 18 different team colors and the PMC logo on the front. “We gave the jerseys out at the opening reception, and sent attendees off to network and find their ‘team members’ as an icebreaker. We also hired a couple of comedians dressed up like hockey players to set the tone. For our awards night, we selected former Stanley Cup champion and hockey announcer Bill Clement as our keynote speaker, to rave reviews.”
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Setting A Green Example
• The new waterfront Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre (VCEC) expansion, set for completion in 2009, is committed to incorporating green practices such as seawater heating and cooling, recycling, a living roof made up of 400,000 plants and wild grasses (left photo, center), a fish habitat built into the foundation and onsite water treatment. The VCEC’s F&B policy includes serving fresh, local ingredients without additives, donating leftover food to local charities and avoiding use of disposable utensils and dishes. For more information visit vcec.ca.
• In 2007, the Vancouver Convention and Visitors Bureau will offset approximately 220 metric tons of emissions resulting from the organization’s air travel by purchasing carbon offset credits through Uniglobe Travel’s Green Flight program. Tourism Vancouver also will be offering the opportunity to purchase carbon offset credits to all convention delegates coming to Vancouver for conferences and meetings. For information, visit tourismvancouver.com and uniglobeadvancetravel.com. To learn more about carbon offset options, visit climateservices.com. |
Minnix also included a curling teambuilding event at the NSWC as part of the overall program, giving attendees an entertaining taste of a unique Olympic sport that’s not as well known outside of the northern latitudes.
Vanessa Brown, marketing communications manager for the Redmond, WA-based Microsoft Corporation, selected The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for a three-day event for 450 senior level, technical employees and guests. “For this recognition program, we wanted a high level of service to make our attendees feel important, and The Fairmont brand was the perfect fit.”
Just 41¼2 blocks from The Fairmont Waterfront, The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver is the city’s “Grand Lady,” offering 556 rooms and suites, and 40,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention space. The smallest meeting room is 310 square feet and the largest is 11,400 square feet, accommodating up to 1,500. The conference floor rooms are connected with moveable walls, to enlarge or minimize the breakout space.
From a planning perspective, Brown said that The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver set the bar high for their next program. “The staff was in tune with our meeting, handling minute details that we didn’t even consider since this was our first event like this. From refreshing water to keeping wine on the table, service details were second nature to them. When our guest speakers were at the podium, the service staff kept quiet, yet available.”
The most impressive service, according to Brown, was the synchronized formal dinner. “During our seated, more formal meal, the menu was more elegant, and the wait staff dressed accordingly. You could almost sense the hush in the crowd as the staff dramatically entered in row carrying our food.”
For a teambuilding event, Brown hired a San Francisco company to organize a successful and fun citywide scavenger hunt in the surrounding five-block radius of their host hotel, followed by a casual lunch at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre hotel. “Along with our brief presentation,” said Brown, “I’d visualized a box-lunch affair. Somehow I got lucky because my simple box-lunch event was stepped up into an upscale sandwich presentation. In addition, at the last minute, we needed extra seating. The staff came to my rescue and not only served a delicious meal, but pulled the extra seats together as if it were planned that way.”
The Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre hotel, near the VCEC, boasts 736 rooms and 50,000 square feet of flexible meeting space with state-of-the-art technical features.
Air travel to and from Canada now requires a passport to enter or re-enter the United States, and this requirement will be extended to all land and sea border crossings as early as January 1, 2008.
Vancouver’s pristine natural setting, world-class dining and nightlife, international flavor, luxurious accommodations, plentiful meeting space, exciting local attractions — along with the added excitement of visiting a future Winter Olympic Games site — combine to create a memory worth taking home. C&IT