14 BCBusiness AUGUST 2014
W
Y
B . C .' S N E W S A N D V I E W S
F R O M I N D U S T R Y S E C T O R S
08/14
front
lınes
T O U R I S M
W
ith alpine vistas, a surplus of meeting space and
close connections to Vancouver, Whistler is
following the lead set out by ski resorts such as
Banff and Aspen and courting the conference
crowd—a much sought-after tourist segment
known to book early and spend lots of money. This month,
Grow—a technology investment conference with some 1,100
attendees—became the latest to make the trek up the Sea-to-
Sky highway, relocating from Vancouver after four years.
Whistler saw 2.55 million visitors in 2012/2013. Meetings,
incentives, conferences and events—known in the industry
by the acronym
MICE—make up a large proportion of total
visitor numbers, and an even higher proportion of tourist
revenues, in Whistler. For a town with around 8,000 hotel
rooms, advance corporate bookings are vital to the resort's
economy. In 2013, conferences and meetings represented 22
per cent of total room nights in the summer, and 11 per cent
in the winter. In total, meetings and conferences accounted
for 81,000 room nights last year.
A portion of those visitors come for events at the
Whistler Conference Centre, which has seen attendee
A Conventional
Courtship
After years of low bookings, big-ticket
conferences are returning to Whistler
by Jacob Parry
TOURiSM WHiSTLER/MiKE CRAnE
