City report
The Shaw Centre redemption
CANADA’S CAPITAL ADDS SOME EXRA ‘ZIP’ FOR CONFERENCES
ttawa is a host destination
with experience of many
important national and
international conferences.
Canada’s capital provides ready access to
national policy-makers, the international
diplomatic community, national
associations, and subject matter experts
from a variety of fields including:
information and communications
technology, health and life sciences,
aerospace and defence, engineering, and
cleantech. Ottawa is also one of Canada’s
leading technology hubs, with both
international tech giants and local
start-ups.
Ottawa’s one million residents can
welcome visitors in English, French and
Indigenous languages and there is no
shortage of historic and national sites,
monuments and cultural institutions to
visit.
Unique among G7 capitals, Ottawa is
equal parts urban and rural, a vibrant city
on the edge of nature. Some claim Ottawa
is, in many ways, Canada in one city.
Ottawa has direct air connections to
major US hubs, plus London and
Frankfurt from its airport, which is a
15-minute drive to downtown.
A new Alt Hotel Ottawa Airport is set
to open by the end of 2020.
Ottawa is home to Shaw Centre
convention venue located in the heart of
downtown, next to the Rideau Canal (a
UNESCO World Heritage Site). The
centre is walking distance from 6,000
hotel rooms.
The new light rail transit system,
known as the Confederation Line, links
hotels to the Shaw Centre and other
venues in the city.
This year Shaw Centre announced
itself as the first convention centre in the
world to offer its own ‘chocolate profile’. It
will be built into various items of the
menu.
Left: Ottawa Art
Gallery exterior,
photo by Adrien
Williams
Zipping in
The chocolate profile idea came from
Shaw Centre’s Executive Chef, Patrick
Turcot and Executive Sous Chef, Jennifer
Sands, who named their chocolate ‘By55
Noir no1’, derived from the Shaw Centre’s
civic address which is 55 Colonel By
Drive; Noir, which translates to dark, for
the dark chocolate; and no1 for the first
edition.
Tanks, dinosaurs and saunas
The capital’s range of national museums,
which includes the Canadian Museum of
History, the Canadian Museum of
Nature, the Canada War Museum and
the National Arts Centre, offers grand
public spaces for unique off-site
receptions, galas and events. These are
backed up by Ottawa’s offsite venues,
which allow delegates to network and
dine among towering totem poles,
antique army tanks and gigantic
dinosaurs.
In winter, Ottawa is home to the
world’s largest outdoor skating ring on
the Rideau Canal and skiing, saunas and
hot baths are all activities available at the
Nordik Spa-Nature.
Planners can take advantage also of
Ottawa Tourism’s Winter Meeting
ICEntives to conferences held in Ottawa
between 1 December and 31 March.
Ottawa Tourism also offers attendance
promotion and development services to
meeting planners, as well as
complimentary convention services on
the ground. A delegate Insider’s Badge
offers discounts on admission to a wide
range of attractions.
Ottawa will host the 2022
International Association of Firefighters
Convention, set to attract 3,000
firefighters and their families. Victor
Dillabaugh, Vice-President of the Ottawa
Professional Firefighters Association,
tapped in to the local host programme
Think Ottawa, supported by Ottawa
Tourism, the Shaw Centre, and Invest
Ottawa.
Ottawa Tourism reports that 2020 will
be the best year ever for the city in terms
of international conferences, and 2021
and 2022 are also looking to be better
than average years in terms of both
number of events and delegates.
Officials tell CMW it would be
difficult to directly attribute any
increased business in Ottawa at the
expense of the USA to any kind of
‘Trump effect’ but add that, “if a
conference organiser were looking for an
alternative meeting destination, Ottawa
would be a logical next choice due to its
proximity to the United States.”
ISSUE 105
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This summer,
delegates will
be able to
zip between
provinces
on the first
interprovincial
zipline in the
world, connecting
Ottawa and
Gatineau.
A new addition
to the Zibi
development
(a planned
residential
and business
community that
is located in both
Ottawa, Ontario
and Gatineau,
Québec), Interzip
Rogers will offer
a dual-line zipline
which will soar
more than 35
metres above
the Ottawa River
and stretch 425
metres.
CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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