Vancouver, BC: Over 2,500 international delegates representing airlines, airports and tourism authorities from every continent will gather in Vancouver at the Vancouver Convention Centre from September 19 to 21 for the 16th World Route Development Forum.
Taking place for the first time in North America, World Routes 2010 is the largest annual gathering of the air route development industry. The three-day forum allows decision makers to meet one-on-one to plan new air services and shape the future of international aviation route development.
“We are delighted to welcome the World Route Development Forum to our city,” noted James E. Terry, chair of Tourism Vancouver. “High capacity and strategically routed air access plays a significant role in the tourism growth of any destination and we are optimistic that having these key players from the world’s airline industry in our city will result in increased future air access for Vancouver. Not to mention, this conference of over 2,500 delegates offers a significant economic benefit to our local tourism community and we’re pleased that Tourism Vancouver’s connection with BestCities Global Alliance helped us secure this major event.”
World Routes 2010 – an event that could not have been accommodated prior to the convention centre’s expansion – is an important vehicle to expose influential route development planners to Vancouver and its amenities.
“We’re extremely proud to host World Routes 2010 at our facility. This is a wonderful opportunity to further put Vancouver and our facility on the world map,” said Ken Cretney, general manager, Vancouver Convention Centre. “Encouraging new air transportation links to our city has the potential to attract more international delegates to conventions at our Centre, while further allowing us to develop business opportunities in new markets.”
“As we continue to build on the momentum of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, World Routes 2010 provides another major opportunity to showcase Vancouver and British Columbia to a global audience,” said Kevin Krueger, Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts. “We are delighted this event is being held in our province, at one of the finest facilities of its kind in the world.”
Fiscals 2011 and 2012 are shaping up to be the largest convention years ever for Vancouver. For fiscal 2011 (April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011), 448 events are confirmed to date, including conventions, conferences, trade shows, consumer shows, special events, banquets and meetings.
The Vancouver Convention Centre is the only two-time winner of the International Association of Congress Centres’ APEX award for “World’s Best Convention Centre.” Since inception in 1987, the facility has demonstrated a constant commitment to service, technical and culinary excellence, as well as environmental sustainability. With its expansion complete, the Centre has tripled its size to cover 1.1 million square feet (or four city blocks) for a combined total of 466,500 square feet of pre-function, meeting, exhibition and ballroom space.
Tourism VancouverÂ’s focus is on building exceptional customer relationships with meeting planners, travel influencers, travel media and independent tourists. The Meeting and Convention Sales team actively promotes Vancouver worldwide as a premiere event destination and services hundreds of meetings each year. Tourism Vancouver’s “service edge” strives to deliver the best combination of customer sales, service and destination value anywhere in the world.
