Business events held in Kelowna and area leave meaningful legacies, from local spending and job creation to knowledge exchange and community pride. On April 3, the business events industry across Canada joins together to celebrate Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID), recognizing the sector's positive social and economic benefits.
Why Business Events Matter
GMID is spearheaded by Meetings Mean Business Canada (MMBC), an industry-wide coalition dedicated to the development, growth, and international competitiveness of Canada’s meetings and business events industry.
As highlighted on the MMBC website, business events matter because they are:
- A catalyst for collaboration, investment, and trade.
- A critical source of business income, high-value jobs, and tax revenue.
- An opportunity to leverage Canada’s key economic sectors to a global audience.
Business Events in Kelowna
In 2024, Tourism Kelowna's team generated lead opportunities with a potential estimated economic impact of $37.7 million. Beyond hotel stays, meetings and conferences in Kelowna drive tax revenues that fund essential infrastructure, support vibrant neighbourhoods, and enhance quality of life for everyone who calls Kelowna home.
With more than 43,000 potential room nights generated in 2024, our city is welcoming not just visitors, but future investors, innovators, and neighbours. Business events often plant the seeds of future economic development as the Okanagan lifestyle leads many to return with their families, their ideas, and their businesses. The collaborative OKGo campaign was launched, in part, to take advantage of this synergistic relationship between tourism and economic development.
Last year, the campaign—developed through a partnership between the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission, Tourism Kelowna, and Accelerate Kelowna—earned an Economic Developers Association of Canada 2024 Marketing Award for Community Collaboration. Through the campaign, Tourism Kelowna's team showcases Kelowna's key economic sectors to planners and decision makers across Canada and beyond—this work generated 39 business event leads with a potential estimated economic impact of $9.4M in 2024, contributing to the team's overall success for the year.
Celebrating GMID 2025
On April 3, meeting venues, hotels, and attractions are invited to light up in blue to mark GMID. When sharing images to social media, be sure to include #LightingUpBlue, #GMID2025, and tag Meetings Mean Business Canada.
Industry members can also access a GMID Toolkit through the Meetings Mean Business Canada website, which includes infographics, images, and a fact sheet.
We’re proud to play a role in shaping a future that’s inclusive, ambitious, and fueled by shared success. This Global Meetings Industry Day, we celebrate the people and partnerships that make it all possible and create connections that last well beyond the closing keynote.
To learn more about GMID, visit the Meetings Mean Business Canada website. For information about business events in Kelowna, contact Tourism Kelowna's Business Development team.
