An event organizer says Vancouver should experience more than the usual legacy benefits of hosting a convention when more than 3,000 meeting professionals converge on the city in July for Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) annual World Education Congress.
Jeff Busch, vice-president of strategic communications for MPI, said that members of the industry association have US$16.9 billion worth of buying power in their event-planning businesses.
“Now granted, not every member is showing up to Vancouver, but a good number of people that control very large budgets are attending our conference,” said Busch in an interview last week.
“There is no better way to show a city off than to have these people [meeting planners] visit your city and touch it, play with it and experience it, so that when they go back to wherever they came from, the next time they have to schedule a large event or meeting, its fresh in their mind all the benefits and beauty that Vancouver has to offer.”
According to Tourism Vancouver, the 3,000-plus delegates attending the World Education Congress between July 24 and 27 will spend about $3.5 million in Vancouver – not including airfare or business generated in Vancouver down the road from the conference.
Said Busch: “Nothing against surgeons, but they go back to Toledo and they may vacation in Vancouver as a family some other time, which is nice, but they don’t quite drive business to your city like these planners and suppliers that we have do.”
MPI’s membership is comprised of more than 24,000 members belonging to 71 chapters and clubs worldwide.