METRO VANCOUVER DESTINATION MANAGEMENT COUNCIL UPDATE

Within the Metro Vancouver planning area, a key theme for the Destination Development strategy is elevating the visitor experience. It was identified that strengthening Metro Vancouver’s product and experience offerings for major events (sports, meetings, conferences) would be a catalyst to maintaining the area’s long-term competitiveness as a global destination. Major events contribute to the livability of a city, create jobs and boost the local and regional economy.

While the sector paused through the pandemic, a group of stakeholders came together to define success for the major events sector, benchmarking other global host cities and outlining a path to building a more unified approach to attracting and hosting events. The sub-committee also commissioned an economist to outline recommendations for the sector to make proactive, evidence-based decisions to attract the right mix of events that optimize social and economic benefits for communities and the province of BC. Engagement between Metro Vancouver partners is ongoing and is expanding to include event hosting partners from across the province.