Few things contribute to the visitor economy like conventions do. Conventions attract visitors outside peak travel seasons; those visitors also tend to stay longer and spend four times more than leisure travellers on restaurants, transportation, accommodation, retail, entertainment and attractions.
But Victoria’s conference centre is no longer enough to meet demands. It is too small, its technology too limited, even to bid on three-quarters of the conferences held across Canada. That’s why a new and/or improved convention centre is high on the list of priorities in Destination Greater Victoria’s recently released 10-year destination master plan.
“It is a very ambitious, forward-looking plan,” says Paul Nursey, DGV’s president and CEO. “It will benefit the business community and the residents as well. Among the plan’s proposals are 2,000 additional full-service hotel rooms over the next decade, new attractions and events, better transportation and more tourism dollars spread throughout the region.
One of its top priorities is the conference centre, with three options under consideration:
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- Renovating the current structure
- Building a new facility on the current site
- Constructing a brand-new conference centre on the Royal BC Museum site and combining the two facilities.
It would be one of several other significant developments in the Inner Harbour, including the redeveloped Belleville International Ferry Terminal and new Industry, Arts & Innovation District.
As Nursey says: “We could wake up in 20 years and have a truly world-class waterfront.”
