Earlier this month, our team hosted a review session with Tourism Kelowna's Meeting & Conference (M&C) Program partners to showcase 2024 activities and discuss the 2025 program.
More than 40 program partners attended the session virtually and in person, while our team covered several topics, including:
- Departmental overview and 2024 areas of focus, activities, and results.
- Plans for the program in 2025.
- The sales process used by destination marketing organizations.
- Ways to leverage upcoming major events effectively.
- The critical differences between familiarization tours and site visits.
- The top five ways to maximize opportunities.
The Q&A session that followed was particularly engaging, with thoughtful questions and discussions taking place among the group.
Launched in 2006, the M&C Program generates meeting and conference opportunities for the destination. Interest and participation in the program have continued to increase over the past few years.
Aligned with Destination Canada's Economic Sector Strategy, the M&C Program aims to leverage Kelowna's key economic strengths to drive business opportunities for our tourism partners. The success of the collaborative OKGo campaign—launched in 2021 as a partnership between the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission, Accelerate Okanagan, and Tourism Kelowna—continues to be realized, with the campaign most recently being awarded an Economic Developers Association of Canada 2024 Marketing Award in the Community Collaboration category.
Connect with Julia Garner at julia@tourismkelowna.com or click here to learn more about participating in the 2025 M&C Program.
