Calgary has grown tremendously in the past decade and so has the city's ability to host events. From trade shows to business venues to tourists, is Calgary doing everything it can to maximize its economic potential?
In September 2007 the International AgBiotech Conference was held in Calgary. Ryan Radke, president of BioAlberta, explains why Calgary was chosen to host this event, “Calgary has an international reputation due to the Stampede and Olympics, those types of things that Calgary has hosted in the past. We thought that Calgary would be the ideal locale for our international conference so we put together a bid and won.”
Calgary Chamber of Commerce
The Calgary Chamber of Commerce is a frequent contact for Calgary’s business ventures. They are an advocacy group whose mission is to lead and serve the Calgary business community, valuing its diversity. Heather Douglas, the past President and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, explains the Chamber’s history, “Back in 1891 when Calgary was still just Fort Calgary, a group of merchants got together that were serving the small community; that was the beginning of the Fort Calgary board of trade. We are one of the founders of the City of Calgary and we have been a part of growing this city for the past 117 years. Whatever Calgary needed at times, it grew up in the Chamber and when it was old enough to be self-sustaining, we threw it out. That includes Calgary Tourism, Calgary Economic Development, Calgary Technologies Inc., Calgary Airport Authority, Calgary United Way, and the Calgary Homeless Foundation. We have a total of 27 offspring in the City of Calgary. All of these wonderful ideas to help grow Calgary have come out of the Chamber of Commerce.”
All of the organizations work independently of one another for the betterment of Calgary. Douglas explains, “The Chamber puts people on the (organization’s) Boards of Directors, volunteers who are Chamber members, so there is a conduit back to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. But they are all independent and they get their funding in different ways and each run under their own independent B of D and management teams and all that. So the Calgary Chamber of Commerce in essence is mother.”
The Chamber was ‘mother’ to Calgary Economic Development which was established in October 2002 to provide leadership and direction for Calgary’s economic development activities. Adam Legge, the past Chief Economist for CED, spoke about the organization, “We are the stewards of Calgary’s brand, Calgary - Heart of the New West, and we do promote Calgary as a location for business investment and people, workers so to speak.” How do they do that? Legge explains, “We’ve found in the past that broad-based advertising of billboards and magazines is not very effective. We need more of a targeted approach. How do you differentiate yourself in a one page magazine spread?”
Tourism Calgary
Earl Williams, past chair person for the Tourism Calgary Board of Directors, explains how Tourism Calgary operates, “Marketing a city is very, very important. If you don’t have in place marketing initiatives into the future, you can lose opportunities to draw tourists to your city. In 2009 we had some big events – the Brier, the WorldSkills competition, world water-ski championships, an Ironman, and the Grey Cup.”
Williams expands, “The Brier, for example, got Calgary’s name front and centre across Canada as well as defined our region. It’s great to have the Brier and if the attendees are primarily Calgarians, that is okay. But it is great if you can draw people from Regina or Vancouver or Toronto. They’re staying in hotels, they’re spending money in restaurants, they are going shopping in Chinook Centre or downtown so you are adding economic value to your city.”
Williams and Tourism Calgary are looking even further into the future, “As well, we have to start to think about what are we going to target in 2011 and we work closely with the TELUS Convention Centre on that because they chase conventions and we work with them.”
Hosting Venues in Calgary
The two main venues for hosting large events in our city are the Roundup Centre in Stampede Park and The Calgary TELUS Convention Centre (CTCC). The CTCC is owned by the City of Calgary and is operated by the Calgary Convention Centre Authority. Venues such as the CTCC are essential for attracting out-of-town business and conferences and how do they get that business to come to Calgary?
Heather Lundy, the Director of Marketing for the CTCC, explains how they get people here, “We have a full sales team and they each have a specific market that they go into. We have a Canadian association, Canadian corporation, a US sales person, and we have an international sales person.” As Lundy points out, the CTCC brings in $60 million in annual economic benefit. What is meant by economic benefit? Lundy clarifies, “When we have large delegations or meetings come into the city, it doesn’t benefit the convention centre specifically. There is the overspill into restaurants, delegates purchasing souvenirs, the accommodations, transportation, etc. That’s where that number comes in.”
Economic Benefit of Events in Calgary
When events such as WorldSkills comes to Calgary, the economic benefit is tremendous. Calgary could see up to $82.5 million injected into the economy as a direct result of hosting the WorldSkills Calgary 2009 Competition; that figure includes $15.8 million in visitor expenditures and $55 million in operating expenditures.
The study was conducted by an independent consultant who found that the potential total direct, indirect and induced economic impacts in Calgary relating to the $82.5 million in initial expenditures is estimated to be $59.2 million in GDP (or "net economic impact"). Potentially over 930 jobs could be created with wages and salaries estimated at $42.5 million. Tax support revenue to all levels of government could reach $23.3 million ($12.9 million Federal, $6.5 million Provincial and $3.9 million Municipal).
Everyone has their own opinion as to how Calgary is doing in her job as hostess.
Toby Welch - Toby is a full-time freelance writer who specializes in magazine articles, online writing, e-books, and manuscript editing.
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