Smart Meetings

The sheer natural grandeur of the these mountains was not just the succession of picturesque peaks, but layer after layer of limestone and shale towers with jaw-dropping visual symmetry.

We’ll wager you’ll experience a similar thrill, whether you’re a first-timer on a site visit or a repeat planner whose CEOs or decision-makers are clamoring for something different, something special, to motivate clients and sales teams—and closer to home than Europe or Asia.

The province’s two major cities are destinations in their own right: Edmonton, the sophisticated metropolitan capital, and Calgary, which Frommer called the “capital of cowboys, farmers and oilmen.” In other words, Calgary is Alberta’s Houston, Edmonton is its Austin.

Overall, the tenor of the province is lively and upbeat. And why not? Alberta is booming, with oil reserves that rival Kuwait’s and a huge demand to support it.

All of which means good news for meetings as well as the local coffers. “Economically, Alberta is doing well. There’s been a lot of de-velopment of the infrastructure, with new meeting facilities, hotel upgrades, new recreation opportunities and upgrades to ski hills,” says Brian Slot, new director MC & IT, The Americas for Travel Alberta.

While the Canadian dollar is currently stronger than its U.S. counterpart, he says, planners should know that there is no provincial sales tax in Alberta, as there is in other provinces. Plus, he says, “more airlines are coming into our gateway cities, which means a lot more price competition among them, so prices are coming down a bit.”

There are nonstop flights from pretty much all of the major U.S. hubs—Houston, L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, he says. “Just this year we added a flight direct from JFK to Calgary—it’s really easy for people on the East Coast to get to Calgary; you can be there within six hours, with a stop.”

For incentives, or those attendees who want to tack on a few extra days to explore Alberta’s two grand national parks (Banff and Jas-per), there’s a choice of train options:  VIA Rail, the trans-Canada link with various spurs, or the Rocky Mountaineer, with a more limited route but a more luxurious experience. Any time of year is a good time to plan your meetings in Alberta, Slot says. “People forget that Alberta is truly a four-season destination. No matter what time of year you come, there are lots of activities for groups and individuals. In summer the highlights are golf, hiking, nature tours and biking along any of the river pathways in both cities. And there’s white-water rafting, as well, right outside of Banff.”

Winter also has its charms. “You can cross-country ski, downhill, and there are hot springs open year-round. Groups like to go on dog-sledding tours and sleigh rides,” he says, so whether you’re planning for summer or winter, Alberta is your destination.

CALGARY
Calgary is the heart of the new west, but its boots are firmly planted in the old. The vibe is energetic, cosmopolitan (there’s a large inter-national population) and happening (there’s also a strong local culture). The city leads Canada in technology start-up companies and Internet connections, and it has the youngest, best-educated workforce in the country (60 percent of Calgarians have post-secondary education).

Downtown is a maze of gleaming skyscrapers, with 10 towers that are at least 40 stories tall. Cranes muscle in between, reminiscent of derricks in the oilfields beyond. Two of its buildings have become iconic: the Calgary Tower, which looks similar to Seattle’s Space Needle and whose restaurant Sky 360 is open for group receptions; and the Pengrowth Saddledome, which resembles, well, a saddle and is home to the Calgary Flames hockey team and other sporting and entertainment events.

Calgary’s long summer days see residents spill out onto the streets to dine, relax in cafes and go gallery or boutique hopping—when they’re not heading to the numerous parks within the city or spending the weekend in Banff or Lake Louise.

Calgary also has the long winter days covered—literally, with the +15 skyway, a network of enclosed pedestrian bridges that connect office buildings, hotels and entertainment venues. There’s plenty of nightlife in Calgary, with an eclectic  mix of restaurants and bars—often bawdy and exuberant.   

The city’s most visible cowboy aspects come to life each July, with the thundering Calgary Stampede, or what has been called “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.” More than a million visitors descend on the city to partake in the 10-day rodeo, chuckwagon and mu-sic festival.

Be sure to check in with Tourism Calgary, a great first-stop to get the lowdown on the city and its meetings possibilities.
 
MEETING VENUES
You can’t get a more convenient meetings hub than Calgary, where the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre is linked indoors to several four-star hotels, making it an ideal year-round choice. The center itself provides 122,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting space and 47,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, with 34 meeting rooms. Together the hotels (Hyatt Regency Calgary, Marriott Calgary and the Fairmont Calgary)  encompass more than 1,000 guest rooms, plus meeting space of their own.

The center is the first building in Alberta to be certified BOMA Go Green (April 2005), and its green meetings options were key in the center’s selection for the first “eco conference” hosted by the Human Resources Institute of Alberta, according to David Knudson, con-ference chair.

Other top meetings venues include the MacEwan Conference & Event Centre, with 40,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, and the Metropolitan Conference Centre, with 23,000 sq. ft. Both also offer accommodations as well.

UNIQUE VENUES AND ACTIVITIES
While the annual Calgary Stampede takes place for 10 days each July, “[Stampede Park] is open the other 355 days of the year,” says Rebecca Wood, customer relations manager for sales and events.

This huge park—recently ISO 140011-certified (a Canadian green designation)—lassoes in meetings and events with a host of differ-ent venues. There’s Roundup Centre, with more than 200,000 sq. ft. of contiguous space; the Corral Centre, an arena that provides 17,000 sq. ft. of floor space and can also accommodate private indoor convention rodeos; and a renovated 500-seat theater. The latest addition to the Roundup Centre is a 50,000-square-foot exhibit hall and meeting rooms, scheduled for completion next September, which will bring the total to more than 450,000 sq. ft.

While the upcoming Vancouver Olympics have captured our imagination, Calgary was the home of the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, and its legacy for recreational activities remains at the Canada Olympic Park, located within Calgary’s city lim-its. Today its slopes and terrain are used for downhill skiing, snowboarding and cross-country skiing in winter, mountain biking and festi-vals in summer.

BANFF AND LAKE LOUISE
Located in the heart of Banff National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are Banff and Lake Louise, two destinations of undisputed grandeur. Less than two hours by car from Calgary, Banff is a major ski resort town not unlike those in Colorado, bustling in winter, a little less so in summer. Its main street and offshoots host restaurants, bars, ski shops, outdoor outfitters and hotels (although the number of black bears  is said to exceed the number of hotels 60 bears to 51 hotels).

Lake Louise (closer to Calgary by an hour than Banff) isn’t a town per se—it’s a self-contained enclave encompassing a tranquil tur-quoise lake framed by iconic mountain peaks.

“When people close their eyes and dream of coming to Canada, this is what they dream of,” says Julie Canning, president of Banff Lake Louise Tourism. In fact, Banff was named the #1 destination overall in Canada by TripAdvisor; it’s also been named as the top incentive destination for meetings in other polls, she says.

MEETING VENUES
Banff, of course, harbors the majority of meetings properties here. Tucked into the side of deeply forested Tunnel Mountain, Banff Centre is an IACC-certified venue with 400 guest rooms, 60 distinct meeting spaces and an ongoing program of educational classes, leadership development courses and live performances. Under construction is the Kinnear Centre for Creativity, which will con-tain more than 21,000 sq. ft. of learning space. The DCH Dining Room, which features beautiful timber beams and expansive windows, can accommodate up to 480.
Two outstanding resort properties for meetings are The Fairmont Banff Springs, a world-class castle-like resort with 768 rooms and the 13-room Conference Centre housing more than 76,000 sq. ft. of function space; and the also-luxurious Rimrock Re-sort Hotel, overlooking the town with 346 guest rooms and 18,000 sq. ft. of meeting space.

At Lake Louise, the premier property is The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, a stately chateau rising from its shores like the regal queen it is. New at the property is the Mount Temple Wing, which expands the total meeting space to 36,000 sq. ft.

For those on smaller budgets, the town of Banff has some viable choices, including the Banff Park Lodge, close to the Bow River and water activities. It features 17,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including trade show areas, executive boardrooms and hospitality suites.

“Green” is the constant theme that runs through this area, as its surrounded by pristine wilderness. “That’s the way we do business here, since before it was trendy,” Canning says. “It’s part of who we are. We do green meetings because we’re stewards of our national parks.”

FUN ACTIVITIES
Outdoor recreation reigns supreme here. In summer, there’s hiking, mountain biking, fishing and golf. Ski season lasts from November through May, and the local mountains feature three ski resorts—Banff Mount Norquay, Sunshine Village and the Lake Louise Mountain Resort, with trails spread over 7,748 acres. The Banff Gondola, just five minutes from town, whisks visitors to the summit of Sulphur Mountain, where there are 360-degree views, restaurants and an observation area.

EDMONTON
“Edmonton is an affordable, viable, convenient and friendly destination gathering momentum within the international meetings market,” says Glenn Duncan, director of meetings, business travel and events for Edmonton Tourism.

Alberta’s capital is also a lively sophisticated city with a passion for the arts, buzzing with a downtown arts district, ballet and dance companies, live theater and the Art Gallery of Alberta, which is currently undergoing a major expansion to a new 85,000-square-foot facility slated to open in 2009 (also available for group events).

More than 35 festivals a year attract thousands for ethnic performances, folk music, blues, jazz, symphony performances, Shake-speare and even poetry—cowboy poetry, that is—coupled with country music. Something, it seems, for every taste, which has earned Edmonton its nickname of “Festival City.”

Surprising for an area with a population of one million, there’s nature in the middle of the city, in the form of a park that stretches along the banks of Edmonton’s North Saskatchewan River Valley, a recreational playground that’s 22 times larger than New York’s Central Park.

History runs deep here, dating back to fur traders and the Canadian gold rush. One neighborhood—Old Strathcona—dates back to 1891. But its vibe is different today, with more than 100 coffee houses, restaurants and pubs—plus plenty of shopping—along its brick sidewalks.

MEETING VENUES
With spectacular views of the river, Shaw Conference Centre is set into a hillside under a glass atrium that stores heat and allows natural light to flood the facility. It is BOMA Go Green certified and offers users a guide for green meetings. A new hall in 2006 added 26,900 sq. ft., for a total of 110,000 sq. ft. of function space—all within a short walk to the downtown entertain-ment district and numerous meetings-oriented hotels.

A time-saver for planners, Edmonton Downtown Hotels is a consortium of 13 major hotels. Notably, there are The Fairmont Hotel MacDonald, another of the brand’s historic luxury properties, which sits on a bluff above the river. It features 11,378 sq. ft. of meeting space plus outdoor terraces and gardens that take advantage of the view and, in summer, the long gorgeous evenings.

The Westin Edmonton is another excellent choice. Connected to the conference center, it offers planners 24,000 sq. ft. of meeting space. Jean-Marc Demers, senior director, business management and strategic development for the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, recently brought a conference to Edmonton, using the Westin as its HQ hotel.

The conference encompassed workshops and exhibitions, one for the trade, one for the public. “Our conference and exhibition attracted some 3,500 participants, plus 2,000 participants to the public exhibition,” he says. He chose the Westin because of its Four-Star designation and the short walking distance to the Shaw, restaurants and entertainment.

Demers chose Edmonton as the conference site, he says, because it “offers the best value across Canada for our sector—i.e., the heart of the oil sands country, culturally diversified, price affordable—and it gives promoters an opportunity to provide even more experi-ences to their delegates.” He also praised the tourism bureau and convention center, which went the extra mile to make the event a resounding success.

Last fall Northlands, a huge event, conference and trade show complex, announced plans for a $145.7-million ex-pansion that will add more than 200,000 sq. ft. of function space. Dubbed “Project Evolution .09,” the expansion is set to debut in fall 2009 and will give the center 500,000 sq. ft. of varied function space. Northlands, which sees 2,500 events and 3.5 million visitors a year, is only a seven-mile drive from downtown.

FUN ACTIVITIES
The area has more than 70 golf courses—and to warm the hearts of planners and die-hard golfers, in summer’s 17 hours of daylight, you can play a round after the meeting adjourns for the day.

For other types of fun, there’s the Western Edmonton Mall, not only the world’s largest entertainment and shop-ping center, but Alberta’s number one visitor attraction. Now wonder: It has the world’s largest amusement park, the world’s largest in-door lake and the world’s largest triple-loop roller coaster—not to mention 800 shops and its own hotel.

JASPER
Edmonton is a gateway to Jasper National Park, but it can also be reached from Lake Louise along the 143-mile Icefields Parkway, called—rightly so—“one of the most spectacular drives in the world.” It segues through Banff National Park, edged to the west by the towering peaks of the Continental Divide. A hundred glaciers are said to be tucked between the mountains, and wildlife—like bighorn sheep and even bears—stroll across the highway at will.

Downtown Jasper fans out from the train station, its streets lined with shops, restaurants, saloons and hotels, including The Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre, which has renovated its guest rooms and is planning a re-do of its meeting space.

Above town, on the shores of Lac Beauvert is The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. Tucked among the chalets, cabins and lodge accommodations at the Fairmont are 18 meeting rooms. Or choose the clubhouse at the property’s 18-hole golf course, which was rated as the #1 Best Golf Resort in Canada by SCOREGolf Magazine. It’s the only lodge-type property in the Fairmont collection, and an idyllic retreat.  Back to Top

Getting There

• Alberta’s two international airports are in Calgary and Edmonton. Calgary International Airport is only 20 minutes from the city center. The city’s Light Rail Transit operates from the airport to downtown. Edmonton International Airport has a shuttle service to downtown and surrounding areas.
• Banff and Lake Louise are 80 and 115 miles west of Calgary, respectively. Scheduled and chartered airport shuttles are available.
• Jasper can be reached by Calgary and Edmonton airports, where rental cars are available. Jasper is also connected to Edmonton on VIA Rail.

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Not To Be Missed

• The Calgary Stampede, “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth”
• Dinner at Sky 360 at the top of the Calgary Tower
• Skiing at Canada Olympic Park  in Calgary
• The view from the lobby of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
• Canoeing on Lake Louise
• The Banff Gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain
• Driving the Columbia Icefields Parkway, one of the most spectacular mountain drives in the world
• Stepping off the tour bus on the icy slopes of the Athabasca Glacier, off the Parkway
• The roller coaster at the Western Edmonton Mall
• Any one of 35 festivals in Edmonton
• Golfing at 10 p.m. (still daylight in summer) at one of Edmonton’s 70 courses

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