meetings-international 26

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Chantal Sturk-Nadeau, who is the Executive
Director, Business Events, Destination Canada, is a
visionary, strategic and thought-provoking thinker
in the meetings and event industry. Also, she is
the person leading Destination Canada Business
Events sector strategy to attract global events
to the country.
The major cities in Canada had
the know-how to pursue international
association business with
in-market representatives or budgets.
Canada is a huge country with around
twenty-five cities in the meetings and
conventions loop, but until Chantal
Sturk-Nadeau implemented the economic
sector strategy, attracting business
events to Canada wasn't always a
level playing field.
“When we began looking at who
was aligned to Destination Canada
programs, and who was seeing real
value with what we offered, we
realised we needed to adjust our
approach so that DMOs (Destination
Management Organisations) with
strengths in Canada's leading sectors
had an opportunity to participate in
bids for global events,” says Chantal
Sturk-Nadeau.
“At the same time, we evaluated
how we could leverage Destination
Canada's strengths in research,
marketing, IT and communications.
The result is a comprehensive strategy
that spotlights our partner DMOs,
their industry strengths, and in which
we amplify using the resources of
Destination Canada's marketing
machine.
“We started by hiring the right
people. Year one, we conducted an
environmental survey, reaching
out to our DMO partners and their
2020 No. 26 MEETINGS INTERNATIONAL | BIR | 19