BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 2024

Tourism Richmond’s Business Development Team was thrilled to welcome eight meeting planners from various regions across Canada to our destination from September 8-12th. This four-day event showcased the value of Richmond for these planners to host their meetings and events. Many cultural, culinary, and historic gems of Richmond were explored, and all expressed delight with all that Richmond has to offer.

Hailing from destinations such as Saskatoon, Ottawa, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto and Niagara Falls, many had either never visited Richmond, only passed through on the way to other BC destinations or had not visited in over five years. Hosted at the River Rock Casino Resort and the Versante Hotel for their accommodations, the schedule showcased several Richmond hotels with site visits so that all could see meeting spaces, guest rooms and other amenities. In addition, the group was brought to offsite venues such as the Richmond Olympic Oval, UBC Boathouse, The Gulf of Georgia Cannery NHS and the Britannia Shipyards NHS, Lulu Island Winery and Country Vines Winery.

Highlights of the trip, which saw perfect weather, were a long table dinner in Lulu Island’s wine tunnel, inspirational presentations and lessons from Richmond’s own Olympian, Evan Dunfee, who had recently returned from the Paris Olympics, a gastronomical experience on the Authentic Eats Foodie Tour, beer tasting at Britannia Brewing and an immersive evening at the Richmond Night Market. The trip concluded with a beautiful Gikumi River Cruise and dinner at Catch Kitchen & Bar in Steveston.

The event has been met with positive feedback from planners who let us know they gained new and valuable insights into what Richmond has to offer as a meeting destination. Further conversations are underway regarding their specific events that we look forward to the opportunity of hosting them in the future.

A special thanks to all stakeholders for their support and passion to showcase Richmond to these key industry partners – it is the backbone of the success for these FAM trips!

If you are interested in getting involved in the 2025 FAM, you can contact Tourism Richmond’s own Danica Stanley (dstanley@tourismrichmond.com). We are always looking for local, authentic Richmond experiences to share with our attendees.