91原创 is known for having a host of unique meeting places, and the city of itself continues to see demand from out-of-town companies looking to travel to the city for events.
However, inflation, high travel costs and a shortage of hotel rooms in the city is squeezing not only the companies who look to bring their employees to 91原创, but also the convention centres and organizations who put on and accommodate the events.
Sooner or later, these cost pressures will impact attendance, said Dave Gazley, vice-president of meeting and convention sales and service with Destination 91原创.
Despite these challenges, industry experts say they are cautiously optimistic that companies will continue to come from other cities or provinces thanks to strategic planning, a number of hotel projects in the pipeline and multiple events lined up for 2024.
“The reality is 91原创 is a tier-one city and the pricing of our hotel product is not inexpensive. We have fantastic hotels in 91原创, we have a great value proposition, but we are sometimes seen as an expensive city,” Gazley said.
Appetite for corporate events and association meetings with 1,000 or more attendees who live more than 80 kilometres away, also known as city-wides, has returned following the height of the pandemic, according to Claire Smith, vice-president of sales and marketing at the 91原创 Convention Centre (VCC).
Typically, the VCC will have four city-wide corporate events and 25 to 30 total city-wide events per year at the LEED-Platinum-certified convention centre, according to Smith.
“Companies have changed since the pandemic, a lot of their employees are still working remotely,” she said. “They really realize the convention is a way to instil corporate culture, corporate knowledge, launch new products and educate their sales force. The importance of a corporate meeting has been really reinforced.”
The number of smaller scale events – those with under 1,000 attendees – that also draw company executives and employees from out of town have been on par with pre-COVID-19 levels, according to Joanne Burns Millar, CEO of 91原创 Destination Services Inc.
Her company works with corporate groups and Fortune 500 companies that bring their top achievers and teams to B.C. and Alberta for performance reward and development, corporate culture enrichment and knowledge sharing. These companies primarily come from U.S., but also Australia, the U.K. and Europe.
“2022 hit us like a ton of bricks,” Burns Millar said. “My company had our best revenue and profit year in 25 years in an eight-month span, because our year didn’t start until March. So, fast and furious recovery is what I would say, and the outlook is looking conservatively positive given the world events.”
The No. 1 issue that threatens this recovery is the shortage of hotel rooms in 91原创, according to all three experts who spoke to BIV.
Over the past 15 years, Gazley predicts that the city has lost roughly 1,500 hotel rooms.
Being able to balance 91原创’s status as a high value, sought-after destination with becoming increasingly unaffordable is a priority, said Burns Millar, who also sits on the board of Destination 91原创.
One potential hotel project in the pipeline is a 33-storey mixed-use hotel that was submitted for rezoning by Musson Cattell Mackey Architects on behalf of Deecorp Properties. It is located on the corner of Granville and Davie Streets.
Others include a 32-storey, 578-room hotel located on West Pender Street and Richards Street by developer Marcon, a 30-storey, 393-room hotel by Paul Y. Construction (B.C.) Ltd., Forme Development and Perkins and Will Architects and an approved hotel project by developer Amacon that will also include residential units at Cambie and Robson Streets.
While these projects move through the approval and construction pipeline, organizations such as Destination 91原创 and the VVCC are encouraging companies to visit 91原创 in the off-season.
Burns Millar said that many companies chose to plan events between the months of May and October. To offset this, Gazley said that Destination 91原创 actively encourages companies to visit 91原创 throughout all seasons of the year.
“It is very much an important role that we take to try and steer groups to come during the off-season. That will help their budgets, it’ll help their pricing or help their delegates ability to travel,” he said.
Not only does this take away some of the cost pressures associated with travel but it also ensures that 91原创’s visitor economy is benefitting from the revenue these companies bring in the winter as well as the peak summer season.
Gazley said that over the next few years, 91原创 is “going to rock.”
Destination 91原创 has 27 city-wide events scheduled for 2024 with more in the works.
In addition, 91原创 will host a city-wide event in July 2025 for Alcoholics Anonymous that will bring together 50,000 to 60,000 people and is set to be the biggest convention 91原创 will have ever hosted.
“It’s going to be a really strong year. You look ahead to things like the Grey Cup, Invictus Games in 2025, obviously FIFA is on everybody’s radar, but there’s so much more happening under the radar that people don’t necessarily know about.”
Going forward, these events will have more of an emphasis on sustainability, community accountability and education, said Smith.
“What we’re seeing is people being very smart with what they’re spending and the decisions they’re making. So, they’re adding more components, the events are becoming more education rich and they’re trying to accomplish more in one event than they might have in the past,” she said, adding that employees piggyback meetings or leisure travel onto the event that brings them to 91原创.
Employees are also encouraging companies to think about the environmental impact that travelling to an event may cause and strategies to mitigate this, Smith said.
Editors note:
BIV previously reported that the 91原创 Convention Centre hosts four city-wide events per year. This story has been corrected to acknowledge the convention centre hosts four city-wide corporate events per year and 25 to 30 total city-wide events.
