OTTAWA — The Meetings Mean Business Canada (MMBC) board recently travelled to Ottawa for Lobby Day 2019 to continue its mission to advocate the importance of business events to the Canadian economy.
MMBC chair Heidi Welker, vice-chair Clark Grue and coalition supporter and Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) board member Nina Kessler, participated in a number of one-to-one meetings with various members of Parliament including Alaina Lockhart, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism and MP for Fundy Royal (New Brunswick); Rob Nicholson, MP for Niagara Centre; Gord John’s, NDP Tourism Critic; and representatives of multiple government departments, from Global Affairs Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development, to talk about the economic and social value of business events in Canada.
Welker and Grue also attended a Hill Day reception hosted by TIAC, where additional one-to-one discussions took place. “Considering that business travellers contribute four-times the spend than that of a leisure traveller, everyone we spoke with understood that meetings and business events continue to add an enormous opportunity for the Canadian economy and communities,” says Grue.
