Aggressive marketing push into Europe is planned
Bruce Constantineau
Sun
The Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre will get a new president and a new marketing focus under major structural changes initiated by B.C. Pavilion Corp. (PavCo) chief executive Warren Buckley.
Former VCEC president Barbara Maple left her position last month as part of “organizational changes” needed to boost business, Buckley said in an interview.
“We’re reorganizing the structure of the entire organization — right from the sales people to the markets we go into,” he said. “It’s a different plan — to be more aggressive and more tactical in some of the overseas European markets.”
Buckley is the acting VCEC president until the organization completes a global search for a new president.
Maple was general manager of the convention centre for eight years before being appointed president two years ago. She served as president of the International Association of Congress Centres and chaired the Joint Meetings Industry Council and the World Council for Venue Management.
Buckley refused to discuss any “personal reasons” for Maple’s departure.
The $800-million-plus Vancouver convention centre expansion project, which will triple the facility’s meeting and convention space, is set to open by March 2009. Buckley noted about 70 per cent of international business at the centre now comes from the U.S. market.
“We want to change that and move into the European market more aggressively and look for more conventions and thematic trade show kinds of activities,” he said. “I don’t mean we’re not there but we’re just not there the way I want to be. So it’s just a change in the way we’re going to focus.”
Buckley said the organization will definitely get more marketing dollars to go after European business more aggressively but he’s not yet certain of the exact amount.
He said he’s satisfied with the future business the expanded centre has already attracted, noting 2011 is shaping up to be a “superb” year while 2012 is “okay.”
“The level of tentative bookings is also quite good and it’s our job now to convert those tentatives into real bookings and generate more business going into 2013 and beyond,” Buckley said.
He said Melbourne and Sydney average about 20 major international conventions a year and Vancouver is “approaching” that level now.
The convention centre says it has attracted 36 events for the year ending March 31, 2011 — including 15 “expansion” events that could not have been accommodated without the expansion. It said 17 events have been confirmed for the following year, including 12 “expansion” events.
Dave Gazley, vice-president of meeting and convention sales for Tourism Vancouver, said Maple has been a “wonderful ambassador” for Vancouver.
“She put in a lot of dedicated years with the convention centre and with PavCo and her representation on some major international groups gave Vancouver a great profile,” he said.
Buckley returned to Vancouver to head PavCo this year after six years in Singapore as CEO of the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre. He was CEO of PavCo — the Crown corporation responsible for VCEC and BC Place Stadium — before heading to Singapore in 2001.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
