Destination Vancouver

Destination Vancouver just hosted our volunteer summer social at CHOP Steakhouse to thank our amazing team of nearly 200 volunteers! It was a fantastic evening filled with great food, lively conversations, and a lot of gratitude for the dedication and hard work that our volunteers bring to Destination Vancouver. So far this year, our team has had over 143,000 interactions with visitors, making our city a welcoming place for everyone. Thank you for all that you do!

Our Vancouver team held a fantastic press conference at Collision Conf in Toronto yesterday. Joining Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave were Ken Sim, FCPA, FCA, Minister Harjit S. Sajjan (PacifiCan), Minister Brenda Bailey (Jobs, Economic Development & Innovation) and DVan CEO Royce Chwin. People are already EXCITED for Web Summit Vancouver 2025! 

BIG News: Destination Vancouver is very excited to announce that the first Web Summit in North America will take place in Vancouver in May 2025 bringing together thousands of international entrepreneurs with the brightest minds in tech, unicorn founders, midas investors and global media. Web Summit Vancouver succeeds Collision Conf in Toronto and continues the company’s mission to support and connect the global technology ecosystem. Dubbed “the Olympics of Tech” by Politico, Web Summit runs the largest technology events across the globe, including Web Summit Lisbon, Web Summit Rio, Web Summit Qatar, RISE in Asia, and now Web Summit Vancouver. Shout out to the incredible partners that made this happen: Minister Harjit Sajjan and his team at PacifiCan, Minister Brenda Bailey and the team at JEDI, and Mayor Ken Sim and our friends at the City of Vancouver. Learn more here https://lnkd.in/gwF2hzBw

Destination Vancouver is excited to introduce our new visitor kiosk in Gastown. Launched on June 4th and located at the corner of Water and Cordova Street, the kiosk will operate during the busy summer season and coincides with the piloting of the pedestrianization of Water Street, starting at the end of June.   This project would not have been possible without the support of Gray Line Westcoast Sightseeing and the Gastown BIA. We love when Team Vancouver can come together to improve the visitor experience in our city.   Staffed by our knowledgeable team and dedicated volunteers, the kiosk will be open daily from 10am – 3pm from June 4th – September 30th. Drop bye to say hello! 

The 111th Grey Cup is coming to Vancouver this November! To officially kick off the countdown, our team attended the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event this week and got to meet the famous mascot, Justin Beaver. The Grey Cup itself was also in the house. DVan CEO, Royce Chwin, was on hand to talk up the 8-day Grey Cup festival and introduce CFL Commish C, Randy Ambrosie. The Grey Cup is the next big sporting event coming to Vancouver and will take place in BC Place on Sunday November 17, 2024. In addition to the championship game, Vancouver will host an 8-day festival of live music, tailgate parties, immersive football experiences, zip lines and more. But we’ve got a whole season to play until then, so let’s roar like never before and support our hometown team, the BC Lions 🦁 Tickets for the Grey Cup are on sale now at https://lnkd.in/d2UfEqUY

Today we’re bidding adieu, so long, good-bye, and farewell to our friend and colleague Dave Gazley, Destination Vancouver’s VP, Meeting and Convention Sales. After 30 years of making our industry stronger, of building Vancouver’s reputation as an exceptional destination, and of leading by example, Dave is off to greener pastures (i.e. golf courses) and to begin working his way through the bucket list he and his lovely wife Janis have been composing. Thanks for everything, Dave, and thanks for making each of us a little better because of the standard you set.

Our Director of Destination Events, Rohaan Sethna, was in front of Vancouver City Council today to speak in support of a motion for the City of Vancouver to contribute to the Cultural Tourism Event Fund that DVan established last year in partnership with the Vancouver Hotel Destination Association. The goal of the Fund is to grow, develop and attract a range of events and festivals which elevate Vancouver's global profile as a cultural destination (and get rid of our reputation as ‘Nofuncouver’). Among the new events supported this year was April’s multi-day Coast City Country Music Festival and the Juno Awards 2025. The motion was unanimously approved by Council. 

Yesterday more than 180 of our members joined us in the Vancouver Convention Centre for Destination Vancouver's 121st Annual General Meeting.   After the general business of the AGM was concluded with words from Chairman Matt Coyne and newly appointed Treasurer Rehana Din, President & CEO Royce Chwin provided an overview of everything that our team achieved in 2023 and a look ahead for the rest of the year. He was then joined on stage by Mayor Ken Sim, FCPA, FCA for a panel discussion, moderated by Bridgitte Anderson, ICD.D CEO, Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.    Thanks to our members for joining us and well done to our amazing team for putting this show together. We are very excited for the "calendar of awesomeness" that is coming to Vancouver over the next few years.

Some of our wonderful Destination Vancouver team were on hand Monday at the inaugural WORTH Association Leadership Summit, held at the Fairmont Waterfront. The Summit is dedicated to elevating, empowering, and retaining women in recreation, tourism, and hospitality.  With a host of inspiring guest speakers including Lana Popham, BC’s Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, and Anna Grolle, Chief Corporate Officer at Cactus Club Café, the stand-out takeaways for our team were to:  ➡️Be vulnerable - vulnerability builds trust and fosters belonging ➡️Be tenacious and don’t be afraid to ask for help to achieve your goals ➡️View obstacles as opportunities Destination Vancouver is a proud partner and supporter of WORTH Association's Leadership Summit and Yes Shef, an initiative that promotes, supports, and celebrates the many remarkable women in British Columbia’s vibrant hospitality community. 

DVan’s Rohaan Sethna, our Director of Destination Events, was joined by our good friend Michelle Collens from Sport Hosting Vancouver and Tom Conway Small Business BC (SBBC) for a Downtown Van event last week geared towards helping their members (especially small businesses) prepare for large events in the city. There was a lively discussion covering several major upcoming events on what we like to call the “Calendar of Awesomeness,” including the FIFA 2026 World Cup, this year’s Grey Cup and, what everyone is really talking about, the three Taylor Swift concerts in December. Post-panel, Downtown Van has put together a useful list of resources for businesses (like links to event permits and business grants) that may be thinking about how they can capitalize on what’s going on in Vancouver. You’ll find it at https://lnkd.in/gRTb8RjY