The meetings and conventions industry in Atlantic Canada is looking at ways to rebound after a tough year that has seen a majority of its events cancelled due to COVID-19.
"We're always working very far out," said Susan Freeman, executive director of Meetings and Conventions P.E.I.
"We have large conferences that are booked three, four years in advance. They're finally looking forward to bringing their delegates and their conference to P.E.I., and all of the sudden, no one's going anywhere. And the future's very unsure."
When COVID-19 hit Atlantic Canada in mid-March, the non-profit organization was forced to cancel 95 per cent of its events and reschedule into 2021, 2022 and 2023. The Island is seen as a popular destination for meetings and conventions, which inject $21 million into the economy. Last year, the Island hosted about 155 meetings and conventions, most of which are scheduled outside of the summer tourist season, said Freeman.
Meetings and Conventions P.E.I. is a non-profit organization that works with meeting planners on finding a venue and other services on P.E.I. It also markets the Island as a place to bring business events and conventions.
A lot of the larger conferences are usually held at the Delta Hotel and P.E.I. Convention Centre in Charlottetown, but meetings are also regularly held across the Island. Currently, the Delta and Convention Centre are in their own bubble with 300 Canadian Premier League pro soccer players and staff booked until late September.
Given all of the cancellations and rescheduling this year, the organization recently sent out a "P.E.I. Pick Me Up" package to meeting planners to stay connected and remind them that P.E.I. is a place to do business. The package included Island products, such as chocolate-covered chips, honey lozenges, a postcard with a hand-written note, and a lobster USB drive with information about the organization's industry partners.
"Incredibly challenging"
Halifax has faced similar challenges with meeting and convention cancellations as a result of COVID-19, explained Ross Jefferson, president and CEO of Discover Halifax. Meetings and conventions make up 5.7 per cent of visitations in a year. This year, Discover Halifax had 100 events booked, and 93 of those were changed or cancelled. Sixty-four of those events have rebooked while other events haven't made a decision about rebooking. Those 100 events translate into a $63-million economic impact.
"COVID-19 has been incredibly challenging for this industry. It has put almost an absolute halt on, certainly, our major conferences for 2020." Jefferson added that there has been a significant resurgence of smaller meetings. To accommodate, venues such as hotels with convention facilities have reconfigured their spaces for social distancing and in-person attendance, and implemented video technology for virtual attendance.
Discover Halifax also has launched a website, Meet Again Halifax, that has information about the value of live meetings as well as booking information for meeting planners and venues with COVID-19 safety protocols.
Freeman would like to see the Atlantic bubble open up to the rest of Canada, especially since a lot of the larger conferences on P.E.I. involve organizations based in Ontario. But if the bubble were to be opened up, it would have to be safe for both Islanders and visiting delegates, she said.
A "glimmer of hope" earlier this month was The Sea to Sky conference hosted by the Atlantic Canada Aerospace and Defence Association. It went ahead with 10 people attending in person in Charlottetown and the remainder participating virtually. Two of Freeman's team members have received certification in virtual meeting and event management, and the organization is also exploring certifications for its industry members on how to conduct meetings safely during COVID-19.
The organization also plans to host more events in agribusiness, which is an area Business Events Canada has identified P.E.I. as an industry leader. And with the Atlantic bubble in place, Freeman is hoping more regional meetings and conferences will follow with more in-person meetings. The goal is to have the experience in 2021 and beyond that they were supposed to have in 2020.
"We're really optimistic. We're seeing signs of people wanting to get back to face-to-face meetings," she said.
"Fingers crossed that we do have safe, secure measures and that we can grow the number of delegates that can come into P.E.I. for 2021. That's what we're working towards and we want to be ready and we want to make sure we have all the policies and procedures in place to do that."
