September 13, 2007
For Immediate Release

US Meeting planners take note of Conference Centre expansion

Victoria, BC — Tomorrow the Victoria Conference Centre (VCC) will host the President and CEO of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), Deborah Sexton, at the Canada West chapter meeting of PCMA.

The VCC has partnered with the Canada West Chapter of PCMA to bring the dynamic presentation "Generations @ Work" by Michelle Lapierre to Victoria on September 14, 2007. Ms. Lapierre is based in Washington DC, and is the Director of Services & Relationship Strategy for Marriott International.

This event comes on the heels of the PCMA/MPI 6th Annual Meeting Industry Summit in Seattle and leads up to the PCMA Annual Meeting January 13-16, 2008 in Seattle.

"We are extremely pleased to bring the PCMA Annual Meeting to Seattle for the first time in 2008," said Deborah Sexton, President and CEO of PCMA. "As the meeting industry's premier event, the PCMA Annual Meeting has historically drawn over 3,000 senior level industry professionals and generated an estimated $200-300 million to the host city and its surrounding region over the following ten years. This is a wonderful opportunity for Seattle and others in the Northwest convention market to showcase their unique combinations of natural beauty and innovative urban pulse," said Sexton.

Victoria is poised to capture increased convention business, as earlier this year the City of Victoria took possession of the Crystal Garden across the street from the existing Conference Centre. With this expansion, the Conference Centre will be able to draw more and larger conferences that will inject an additional $35M back into the local economy. Victoria has also spearheaded the Conventions BC initiative which strives to showcase BC as a global convention destination.

"BC's five publicly owned convention centres offer world-class conference opportunities, and we want to ensure that local, national and international event planners have the information and resources they need to plan their next convention here," said the Honourable Stan Hagen, BC's Minister for Tourism, Sports and the Arts. "Marketing BC as a prime convention destination is a great step towards meeting our industry goal to double tourism revenues by 2015," said Hagen.

"We're very pleased to be able to showcase Victoria as a premier conference destination with an expanded facility," said Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe.

The Crystal Garden will add an additional 25,000 square feet to the Centre, bringing the total square footage to 73,000 square feet. The addition of the Crystal space makes the Victoria Conference Centre the second largest conference facility in British Columbia.

For more information, contact:
Jocelyn Jenkyns
Acting General Manager
(250) 361-1035
jocelynj@victoriaconference.com