The expanded Vancouver Convention Centre is looking to boost convention and trade show activity from Asia.
Claire Smith, the convention centre’s vice-president of sales and marketing told BIV this week, “Our new frontier is Asia. There’s potential to attract some of the trade fair activity so we’re researching that.”
She noted Asian organizations are looking to increase their exposure into North America and hosting an event in Vancouver can be one way to do that.
“They could be inviting attendees from outside of Asia as well if they want to get exposure for Asian technology in a North American market, or may want to experience some professional excellence so they could have exhibitors and education from firms in North America or B.C."
Last year, the centre hosted its first conference from China, a Chinese engineering expo. “It was a great first event for us in a market that we haven’t seen yet.”
The growing emphasis on Asia is part of the convention centre’s marketing focus to attract more international conferences to the city. So far, the centre has had some key wins, including the Meeting Professionals International conference, the International Bar Association conference and the airline industry’s Routes Conference, all of which bring in thousands of delegates and the associated boost to the city’s economy.
“International delegates, typically spend around $300 to $325 a day for the number of days they’re here. That’s just their direct spending and doesn’t factor in all the other multipliers. You can see that a group of 3,000 people is a pretty significant event. It’s exciting that we’re starting to see groups of those sizes that we haven’t been able to accommodate before.”
More about the Lower Mainland’s trade and consumer show market is in next week’s print edition of Business in Vancouver.