Smart Meetings

The town of Banff was founded in 1886, three years after the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway. One of the railway pioneers developed a resort called Banff Springs, named after Banffshire in his home country, Scotland. While Banff’s reputation has expanded in recent years, the town’s size has not. The community is small, but you have all the amenities you’d want in a small tourist town. You hear all sorts of foreign languages here, but you don’t have to go far away from the Main Street before you see wildlife.

Only a 10-minute walk from town, the Banff Centre ( banffcentre.ca) It has 414 rooms, as well as a 1,000-seat theater, TV production studios, theaters and other options. The facility’s dining hall has views over the Bow Valley. The TransCanada PipeLines Pavilion at the Centre has sweeping views and houses 10 modern, fully-equipped meeting rooms and a reception area for up to 50 persons. Donald Cameron Hall has 15 meeting rooms in two wings, and also holds the main dining room and six private function rooms. The Max Bell Building features a modern, 330-seat auditorium and 17 meeting rooms.

If you’re looking for a cool off-site event, consider Brewster’s MountView Barbecue (mountviewbbq.com), where groups of 50–1,500 can sit in “donut” tents around roaring fires and bond over hearty, buffet-style meal of BBQ hip of beef.

Banff is a natural playground. Possible activities include horseback riding, fishing, tennis, ATV tours (known as “quadding” in Canada), white-water rafting and gondola rides. The winter brings heli-skiing, snowshoeing, dogsled rides, torchlight dinner and ski sessions, winter festivals, and a whole lot of hot springs soaking. Ski resorts in the area include Sunshine Village, Banff Mount Norquay, Lake Louise, Fortress Mountain and Nakiska.

Possible incentive prizes abound, including helicopter tours, airplane tours and “heli-hiking,” which offers unparalleled backcountry access. Many of the resorts in the area offer ski and golf packages, so be sure to call and ask about special deals.

Banff has earned a reputation as a top golf resort getaway. Leading courses in the area include Silvertip, Stewart Creek, Banff Springs, Canmore and Kananaskis Country.

Getting There

Calgary International Airport - is a medium-sized airport that serves Calgary, Alberta, Canada and the surrounding region. It is the fourth-busiest airport in Canada by passenger traffic, serving 10.1 million passengers in 2005, and offers scheduled daily nonstop flights to major cities in Europe, the United States, Central America, and Canada.