Ottawa, Canada’s capital, features top museums, national sites and landmarks, a wide variety of restaurants and excellent meeting facilities. It also offers plenty of outdoor opportunities.

More: Planning by the Seasons in Eastern Canada

“The outdoors can be appreciated by getting out and enjoying active time in our great infrastructure, like the more than 800 kilometers [497 miles] of bike paths in the Ottawa-Gatineau area and cross-country ski trails along the Ottawa River,” says Lesley Mackay, vice president of meetings and major events for Ottawa Tourism.

Here’s a glimpse at how groups can enjoy Ottawa through the seasons.

Spring

One of the top spring activities for groups in Ottawa is visiting one of the many “sugar bushes” (maple syrup farms) that show how maple syrup is made. Sugar bushes also offer options such as a hearty pancake lunch, maple syrup treats and sleigh rides.

But above all, spring brings Canadian Tulip Festival, during which Ottawa becomes a waving sea of more than 1 million brilliant blossoms. The festival was established to celebrate the historic gift of tulips from the Netherlands’ royal family to Canadians for their role in liberating the country during World War II. Held in May, the festival draws more than 650,000 annually.

Summer

An outdoor-oriented city, Ottawa really comes into its own in summer. Residents and visitors spill into parks, trails, the Rideau Canal and rivers. It seems that just about everyone takes advantage of the city’s massive system of green spaces to walk, jog, cycle or blade.

More: Three Reasons to Take Your Meeting Outdoors this Summer

Festivals and celebrations are also in full swing, including Canada Day, the country’s birthday, on July 1. Crowds begin to gather on Parliament Hill for a flag-raising ceremony and the Changing of the Guard. At noon, the acrobatic Snowbirds fly their jets overhead in an exciting demonstration of their skills. During the rest of the day, attendees enjoy listening to live music and participating in an array of activities across the city.

Fall

Like elsewhere in Eastern Canada, brilliantly colored leaves and other autumn features are on full display in the fall in Ottawa. Fall is harvest time there, and there are plenty of fairs and Thanksgiving celebrations. The farmers markets are at their peak, overflowing with produce and home-made baked goods, jams and preserves.

One enticing option for groups is to spend part of a day at the picturesque town of Wakefield, situated 22 miles from Ottawa on the Gatineau River in Quebec Province. It’s hard to imagine a more serene fall setting than Wakefield, with its charming cafes, cozy art galleries, soothing spas and abundance of hiking trails.

Winter

Throughout the winter, groups can enjoy winter sports and activities such as cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, snowshoeing and hiking. A section of the Rideau Canal, which runs through the heart of Ottawa, becomes the world’s largest (1.78 million sq. ft.) and second longest (4.8 miles) ice-skating rink.

Rideau Canal Skateway is used for many activities during Winterlude, a celebration of all things winter, including snow slides, games and an international ice sculpture competition. It also features concerts, F&B and unique art.

Fabulous Meeting Places

Offering 192,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, Shaw Centre is one of the world’s elite convention centers. Located in the heart of downtown and overlooking the Rideau Canal, it boasts a sweeping glass facade encasing four floors of state-of-the-art meeting space, including the 57,740-square-foot Canada Hall.

The Westin Ottawa offers 18 meeting rooms and over 36,000 sq. ft. of flexible convention and meeting space, including Confederation Ballroom, with 16,500 sq. ft. of meeting space. The hotel’s newly expanded 7,440-square-foot Governor General Ballroom features natural light and 12-foot-tall windows overlooking the Rideau Canal and Canadian Parliament buildings.

Recently renovated Fairmont Chateau Laurier, located in the center of the city, offers 18 meeting rooms, including a 5,886-square-foot ballroom. The landmark, 429-room hotel is a magnificent limestone edifice with turrets and masonry reminiscent of a French chateau.

Signature Sandman Ottawa Airport Hotel, which opened in July,  is just an eight-minute drive from Ottawa International Airport (YOW). It offers 201 guest rooms, as well as many options in banquet facilities and meeting rooms.

Read about how groups can experience the seasons in three of Canada’s other major cities—Montreal, Quebec City and Toronto—in Dan Johnson’s story, “Planning by the Seasons: Whatever the Time of Year, Eastern Canada Features Unique Adventures for Groups,” in the November issue of Smart Meetings.

It’s the time of year again when you pull out your coziest sweaters, and the smell of pumpkin spice seems to be everywhere. Yes, the holiday season is upon us, and whether you are driving or jet-setting across the country, here are the best Thanksgiving travel dates to avoid the worst of the holiday rush and price surges. Better you should only have to worry about how you’ll manage to make room for a slice of pie (or two?) after all that turkey stuffing.

If You’re Driving

If you are one of the lucky ones whose family and friends don’t live time zones away, and you’re planning to drive to your holiday destination, historic trends in traffic levels can help you avoid gridlock this year. AAA’s 2018 report on holiday travel has the data on what days and times to avoid hitting the road, based on place. Wednesday before Thanksgiving is notoriously the worst travel day due to school and work holidays, but congestion normally gets increasingly worse from Monday on. Coming home, the report suggests you avoid driving the Sunday after Thanksgiving. If you can, duck out on Friday or Saturday instead, and give yourself a day to relax at home before work on Monday.

If You’re Flying

If your destination is a little further afield, and you’re booking flights to your Thanksgiving party this year, here’s the scoop. Popular flight comparison website Skyscanner reported, based on trends from 2017 and 2018, says the worst day to fly to your Thanksgiving destination is—no surprise!—the Wednesday before the holiday. The Sunday before Thanksgiving is often the quietest travel day of the week.

More: Free Layover Tours Quell Airport Boredom

As for when to book flights, 13 or 8 weeks prior to your travel date will give you the cheapest options. When it’s time to head home, Hipmunk suggests avoiding the Sunday after the holiday, as that’s when flights are most expensive. Again, ducking out early (Friday) could be a good option for those flying as well. Don’t forget that surge-pricing doesn’t just mean more expensive; it also means more people traveling, which means longer security lines—so make sure to actually arrive at the airport a few hours before your flight so you don’t risk missing a hot Thanksgiving feast.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation is on the “say no to single-use plastics” bandwagon, and its message is getting louder and clearer. By June of 2021, Hyatt promises all its 20 hotel brands globally will:

  • Replace individual shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and lotion bottles in guest rooms with large-format bathroom amenities.
  • Install new water stations in key public areas to inspire guests to refill water bottles.
  • Offer water carafes instead of plastic water bottles for all meetings and events (unless bottled water is specifically requested).

More: How the Hospitality Industry Supports Green Meetings

“At Hyatt, our purpose—we care for people so they can be their best—guides all business decisions, including our global sustainability framework, which focuses on using resources responsibly and helping address today’s most pressing environmental issues,” said Mark Hoplamazian, Hyatt president and CEO. “Plastic pollution is a global issue, and we hope our efforts will motivate guests, customers and, indeed, ourselves to think more critically about our use of plastic.”

These new measures build on Hyatt’s efforts to reduce disposables and select environmentally preferable options whenever possible, except for when single-use bottles are needed for water quality reasons.

Other recent global initiatives have included removing plastic straws and drink picks and increasing the use of compostable, recyclable and recycled-content packaging for to-go food containers.

More: Maine Bans Styrofoam; Key West and Hawaii Ban Sunscreen

Some Hyatt properties—Hyatt Regency Delhi and Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo, for example—have in-house water bottling plants that reuse glass bottles. Others, such as Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, Hyatt Ziva Cancun and Miraval Austin, give guests reusable water bottles at check-in. Filtered water spouts have been installed in all guest rooms at Park Hyatt Istanbul-Macka Palas to provide fresh drinking water.

Are you headed to Colorado Springs this week for Event Industry Council’s Conclave at The Broadmoor? If so, you are in for a whole lot of valuable education, including chances to earn credits for your CMP and Sustainable Event Professional Certificate and to learn the secrets for cultivating the mindset of a champion.

But what else can you expect? Smart Meetings asked the experts on the ground to suggest not-to-miss experiences during your time in Colorado.

Legendary Discovery

The host property has spent 100 years perfecting the delivery of European luxury with natural beauty. Krista Heincke, vice president of sales and marketing with The Broadmoor, suggests setting aside some time to explore the legendary Forbes Five Star and AAA Five Diamond resort.

Quiz: Are You Ready to Add CMP to Your Name?

A total of 185,000 sq. ft. of meeting space is available, and stately details make each room special. A little-known fact is that when The Broadmoor was being constructed, gold tailings from the processed ore from Cripple Creek were used in making the cement for the main structure, so the foundation of the resort is gold.

The destination includes the 19,500-square-foot Broadmoor World Arena as well as a sports and entertainment venue in Pikes Peak that seats 8,000 and has hosted everything from Cirque du Soleil to Carrie Underwood and Disney on Ice.

Tours of Olympic City training center are being offered each Friday. Athletes train for high-altitude exercise at the ultra-modern facility, and it will soon include the $75 million U.S. Olympic Museum and Hall of Fame.

Outside Interests

Have you really visited Colorado Springs if you haven’t taken a selfie at Garden of the Gods? The National Natural Landmark envelops 300-foot-tall sandstone rock formations, framing the wide-open sky of the Western frontier. Experience the new Geo-Trekker theater or delight in the views while dining in the glass-enclosed cafe.

More: A Tale of Three Cities: Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs

Activities on-site at Broadmoor include world-class golf, tennis, horseback riding, mountain biking, archery and canoeing. Broadmoor Outfitters specializes in setting guests up for whatever adventure they desire—including falconry.

Culinary Finds

Heincke suggests a meal at award-winning Penrose Room at The Broadmoor, and ordering local Colorado lamb—rack-braised lamb with Jerusalem artichokes, roasted Brussels sprouts, black Tuscan kale, black mission figs and just the right amount of jus. For breakfast, she suggests the iconic Lake Terrace Dining Room for bananas foster.

Stick around for a drink at The Hotel Bar, which is papered in memorabilia from the 1920s. While the leather chairs beckon, you could also consider taking your old fashioned onto the patio to sit lakeside next to the stone fireplace.

Have you considered using Pay-Per-Click (PPC) to drive attendance at your events? The digital advertising tool allows event professionals to target specific demographics and track effectiveness in real time. Smart Meetings talked to Laura Davidson, director of event paid media company Tag Digital, for tips on how to incorporate this powerful lead generation trick in your magic kit.

Start Small

Davidson points to PPC—clicks purchased in automatic digital auctions—as an event marketing technique that has a relatively low cost to entry. With an investment of $2,000, event professionals can reach potential attendees and sponsors based on searches, locations or job title. The technique works for search, social media, display ads and video. Google Ads was the first and largest click platform, but no longer the only place to deploy this technology. “It is more than keywords,” she says.

Related: How to Use Instagram TV

In addition to topics, you can designate “negative keywords” such as “virtual” so that any occurrences of “event” linked to that word will not qualify. You can also bid on audience segments based on behavior. The level of targeting possible is such that it can seem as if the computer is listening to conversations and inserting into the feed what the viewer was just talking about. Comment on a problem about a software tool and the next moment, an ad for a user conference that covers that product is on the unrelated web site you are visiting. Strategic use of parameters allows event professionals to catch the eye of the people most likely to attend.

Related: 3 Steps to Monetizing Data through Customer Intelligence

“Start small, see what is working without spending too much on it. Then build on that after you see how effective it is and how well it delivers,” she said. Davidson estimates up to 30 percent of event results could come from a PPC campaign.

Monitor and Iterate

Data today is more valuable than oil. Dashboards make it easy to monitor and manage PPC conversions, showing in real time how much each lead cost in a tangible way. That feedback loop makes it easy to manage and demonstrate return on investment. Particularly when launching a new product or entering a new area, tracking success quickly and adjusting can save marketing dollars.

No city wears its holiday heart on its sleeve quite like New York. The candy and cobwebs from Halloween give way to festive decorations and end-of-year celebrations. Hotels get in the spirit of gift-giving by partnering with local purveyors to deliver specialty experiences, while New York Cruise Lines can craft floating tinsel towns for your holiday soirees.

Here are some enticing preholiday and holiday happenings that your attendees can enjoy in the Big Apple.

Holly Jolly Hotels

Santa has come early to Conrad New York Midtown. In partnership with legendary FAO Schwarz, the hotel is introducing its first-ever Holiday Suite: a wonderland that will (literally) make you feel Christmas has come early. Guests can stay in this beautifully bedecked residence, featuring quality toys, trains and other treats for children and adults—and the suite is entirely shoppable. Additionally, guests in the more than 500 Conrad suites get Rudolph-driven room service with an FAO Schwarz toy menu, including on-demand delivery to their suite or home.

Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown brings a new tradition with Martinis and Mistletoe, its staycation holiday package offering one-of-a-kind private experiences (VIP shopping, skating package, romantic dinner for two) with an overnight stay.

Grand Hyatt New York continues its collaboration with Macy’s in offering pop-up holiday shopping from its grand lobby—and guests can extend their stay with a special offer of a third or fourth night free at participating Hyatt hotels.

Baubles and Boats

Bring your party out to harbor in splendor with World Yacht, which can accommodate 15 to 600 guests. Each yacht has an outdoor deck and climate-controlled indoor space, and the in-house event planners can customize seasonal menus, bar packages, decor and entertainment for whatever bash you have in mind.

Alternately, Circle Line Sightseeing offers semiprivate events for 30–70 guests with a range of food and beverage packages. If your attendees have a few days, make sure to check out The New York Pass. It covers entry to more than 100 museums and attractions—including favorites such as the Statue of Liberty and American Museum of Natural History (where you can see the Origami Holiday Tree, with more than 800 hand-folded pieces, from Nov. 25 to Jan. 12).

Iconic Shows

Before or after your extravaganza, Manhattan and its neighbors revel up for the New Year and beyond with performances, light installations and annual iconic traditions. Book private space for up to 30 for a preshow reception before the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Starring the Rockettes, indulge in a heart-warming classic with group tickets for A Christmas Carol at Lyceum Theatre or be dazzled by George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center Plaza. Check out nycgo.com/holidays to learn about more holiday events.

Headlines about airplanes failures, inconveniences on the way to the gate and the idea of being stuck on a plane full of unpredictable strangers can put the planner brain on high alert, but it doesn’t have to be a white-knuckle experience. With busy holiday and conference travel season in full swing, here are some easy tips to manage in-flight anxiety.

Prepare to Relax

The first step is to arrive with plenty of time to navigate TSA screening, thus sidestepping anxiety over missing the flight. Once you are on the other side of the metal detectors, find a quiet place to do some breathing exercises to calm the mind for the trip. Some major airports offer yoga rooms, gyms and therapy animals to help people relax.

More: Free Layover Tours Quell Airport Boredom

Many mindfulness activities take less than 10 minutes and can reduce the physical manifestations of stress. They can help you focus on the present, rather than repeating dire what-if scenarios on an endless loop. Free-writing for 10-15 minutes without judgement is one way to focus on thoughts. Another tool is to listen music and concentrate on the song’s sounds and vibrations. If negative thoughts arrive, accept them and deliberately return to the music.

Travel is a Team Effort

Pilots, flight attendants, and Air Traffic Control ensure the flight goes smoothly and safely. The safety lecture about oxygen masks and emergency exits are tools to keep everyone safe. Tom Bunn LCSW, a retired airline captain and licensed therapist with over 20 years of experience, says air travel is one of the safest ways to get from point A to point B. Pilots are required to have at least 1,500 hours of experience with a supervisor pilot before flying on their own and most have years of experience flying commercial vehicles before given the captain’s wings. Modern aircraft are built to exacting standards and flights are monitored closely. Airplane attendants are onboard to help in case of emergencies. Everyone has the same goal: getting you and your attendees to their destination safely.

Calming Ways to Use Time

Bringing a few objects from home can help reduce anxiety during the flight. Books, magazines, crosswords, a coloring book and a playlist of favorite songs are good ways to stay relaxed. You can even bring your own blanket or pillow if preferred. Avoid coffee, caffeine, alcohol and energy drinks because it can contribute to in-flight anxiety or dehydration.

More: De-Stress in 20 Minutes or Less

Safe travels.

Five European cities are the world’s most sustainable destinations, according to the recently released 2019 Global Destinations Sustainability (GDS) Index.

Every year, the GDS-Index provides the list and gives awards to those that show the most innovation, leadership and improvement. Here are the leading destinations, worthy of close consideration when planning your next environmentally conscious event.

More: Want to be a Sustainability Expert?

Gothenburg score divided into the four key areas listed below. Via GDS-Index.

Top Five Most Sustainable Destinations

  1. Gothenburg, Sweden, 90 percent
  2. Copenhagen, Denmark, 88 percent
  3. Zurich, Switzerland, 85 percent
  4. Aalborg, Denmark at 76 percent
  5. Glasgow, Scotland at 79 percent

Methodology

To determine which cities are the most sustainable, the GDS references 70 indicators, which are spread across four key areas: city environmental performance, city social performance, supplier performance and destination management performance.

More: International Meeting Safety Checklist

The indicators range from the physical to the social and political, and include everything from air quality, waste and transportation to corruption and governance practices. The percentages listed above are determined by aggregating the total number of points a destination receives for each indicator, then dividing it by the total number of points possible.

Other Destinations in the Top 20

In case the top five destinations listed above aren’t in the cards for you, here are the remaining 15 most sustainable destinations, to give you more options when planning sustainably.

  1. Reykjavik, Iceland
  2. Malmo, Sweden
  3. Sydney, Australia
  4. Uppsala, Sweden
  5. Melbourne, Australia
  6. Dublin, Ireland
  7. Stockholm, Sweden
  8. Aarhus, Denmark
  9. Lausanne-Montreux, Switzerland
  10. Galway, Ireland
  11. Brussels, Belgium
  12. Ljubijana, Slovenia
  13. Oslo, Sweden
  14. Helsinki, Finland
  15. Kerry, Ireland

Airbnb will ban party houses and take several other measures to improve safety that will affect meetings participants and all other customers. The action is being taken in the wake of an incident at a property in Orinda, California, in which five people were killed on Halloween night.

“Starting today, we are banning ‘party houses’ and we are redoubling our efforts to combat unauthorized parties, and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct, including conduct that leads to the terrible events we saw in Orinda,” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky tweeted.

More: 4 Top Tips for Picking a Safe, Secure Hotel Site

Chesky said that Airbnb will make the following additional changes:

  • Thoroughly verify all listings
  • Expand manual screening of high-risk reservations flagged by its risk-detection technology
  • Conduct personal reviews of high-risk listings
  • Create a dedicated party house rapid-response team
  • Establish a “guest guarantee” in case guests find that a listing doesn’t match its online description
  • Create a 24/7 neighbor hotline staffed by real people
  • Take immediate action, including removal, against users who violate these enhanced guest policies

At the New York Times DealBook Conference on Wednesday and in an email to staffers, Chesky provided more details about how the company will rebuild trust in its platform to address both scams and house parties.

Related: Airbnb Animal Experiences Improves Current Animal Welfare Concerns

Airbnb will begin verifying all 7 million listings on its platform, with the goal of reviewing every home listing and host by Dec. 15, 2020. The verification process will seek to vet the accuracy of photos, addresses and listing details. It also calls for inspections for quality standards such as cleanliness, safety and basic home amenities.

He said the effort will require collaboration between Airbnb and the communities they serve. “So, we’re going to use technology, we’re going to use guests, we’re going to basically get a confidence score, but we’re going to make sure that we can stand behind every single listing, every single host,” Chesky said.

He said it will be expensive to implement these changes, but absolutely necessary. “Ultimately, we’re in the business of trust, so we have to make these investments to protect our users,” he said.

In the Orinda incident, a woman rented the four-bedroom home after telling the owner that 12 of her family members with asthma needed refuge from wildfire smoke, a source told the Associated Press, but a crowd of about 100 people from throughout the Bay Area arrived in costume for a gathering promoted on social media as an “Airbnb mansion party.” Why the shooting began has not been made public, but the scene was described as chaotic, with partygoers nursing fresh wounds fleeing the scene. No arrests have been made in the case.

The Orinda City Council passed an emergency ordinance on Wednesday that will prohibit for 45 days all short-term rentals in which the homeowner is not on site, while the city works on updating existing rules. The ordinance is expected to be formally approved at the council’s meeting on Nov. 19.

Shootings and other violent incidents have occurred at several other properties that were rented through Airbnb this year. In some of these cases, the properties were rented under false pretenses and ended up hosting large parties.

The city of El Paso, Texas is steeped deep in rich history, including a war that rewrote the boundaries of what country owned the territory. With a history like that, it’s only natural that residents would have quite a story to tell. What better way to get your attendees in the mood to collaborate than to immerse them in the history of the city?

Scavenge for History

Not all team-building exercises are created equal. Scavenger hunts are as old as time and have always been played to bring people together, making them a great contender for team building. Some of these execised, including the Hare and Hounds scavenger hunt offered at Hotel Paso del Norte, Autograph  Collection give attendees opportunities to explore the history of an area and have a great time doing it.

Post-Meeting Bar Time

Next to baseball, bar lounging is America’s favorite pastime. It may be the dim lighting, casual ambiance or general at-ease vibe these places exude, but grabbing a drink spells satisfaction after a long, hard-worked day. Most hotels feature on-property bars, making that transition from meeting to ceremonious libation almost seamless.

A spectrum of vibrant, colorful light greets visitors at The Dome Bar, at Hotel Paso Del Norte, where guests find a Tiffany-styled, dome-shaped, stained-glass ceiling. A gathering in this welcoming space is the perfect starting point for exploring Plaza Theatre and the Museum of the Revolution on the Frontier nearby.

Bring Your Experiences to Life

Hotels are more than just buildings, they’re an experience. From the moment you walk through those doors to the time that you leave, you’re given a small sample of what life is like in that city. Hotels often build a variety of experiences to bring their town to life, allowing their guests to feel that they’ve truly traveled to a different location. Many El Paso-based properties provide a wide variety of experiences, such as weekly Rooftop Revolution parties. Personalized tours across the U.S.-Mexico border—offered by Hotel Paso del Norte—can give guests a newfound appreciation of the city and the history that made it the unique place for events that it is today.