Although it's too early to gauge the full impact of the American Society of Association Executives (A.S.A.E.) and the Center for Association Leadership's annual meeting and exposition, held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre last week, Tourism Toronto president and C.E.O. David Whitaker couldn't be happier with the feedback he's received.
"It was a wonderful week for us. The convention was flawless and the evening events were spectacular. And we received tons of feedback in terms of being a good host," he said. It's expected that roughly 20 per cent of the 4,900 association executives who attended the meeting will return to Toronto to host their own events here in future years. And Whitaker is confident the convention served to showcase the city and all that it offers. “By the nature of the event they saw the capabilities of our city both to host a meeting and to serve a meeting," he said.
In addition to education and networking sessions, the four-day meeting included a series of evening galas and receptions. The Toronto-based production company Accucom Corporate Communications partnered with Decor & More to host the Canadian-themed opening night party, and Solutions With Impact planned the association's Food and Wine Classic at the Distillery District on August 17. “We introduced the destination to a huge new audience of associations large and small," Whitaker said. "Now the real follow-up work begins."
Whitaker said the A.S.A.E. event is one of 10 citywide conventions being held here this year. (Tourism Toronto classifies conventions as being citywide if they generate at least 1,500 peak rooms—the highest number of rooms used on any one night.) And, the impact is significant, he said, noting that delegates typically spend $1,300 during their stay, which means the four-day A.S.A.E. expo injected more than $6 million into Toronto's economy.
"In these tough times this really does illustrate the impact of having a major group in town," said Whitaker, who noted that the city will host another seven major meetings this fall. Groups like the American Political Science Association, the Canadian Wind Energy Association, and the Financial & Insurance Conference Planners will all be in town within the next few months.
“We’re going to continue the momentum we’ve established this year,” he said. There are already 22 meetings of over 1,000 peak rooms on the books for 2010 and 15 of those will be held in a convention centre. "Toronto is very well positioned."
