DURING MY FIRST VISIT to Vancouver three decades ago, I wandered the city’s damp, foggy streets, lingered in Chinatown’s 1940s-era Ovaltine Café, enjoyed mussels and oysters at the Granville Island public market, attended an NHL game and met a woman on the SeaBus to North Vancouver. Snowcapped mountains framed the skyline and a cool sea mist carried a fresh, briny scent that felt cleansing and invigorating.
On later visits I discovered that, despite a skyline increasingly dominated by glass and steel, Vancouver remains a magical, breathtakingly beautiful and welcoming city. What has evolved more noticeably is the city’s deepening commitment to sustainability—a shift that meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (MICE) planners particularly welcome.
Vancouver already enjoys one of the smallest per-capita carbon footprints among major North American cities. Through mixed-use development, abundant green space, efficient transit and rigorous building standards, it consistently ranks among the world’s greenest destinations. Tourism Vancouver was an early adopter of sustainable destination practices and was the first destination marketing organization in North America to employ a sustainable destination specialist.
This year Vancouver expects one of its busiest MICE seasons, which is encouraging news for the Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC), the city’s flagship exhibitions and conventions facility. Perched on the harbor with sweeping sea and mountain views, the VCC is one of the most photogenic meeting venues anywhere. The 2009 addition of the West Building—complete with a six-acre living green roof—expanded the center’s meeting, exhibition, ballroom and theatre capacity to a total of 466,500 square feet.
Innovations such as a seawater heating and cooling system, on-site wastewater treatment and a fish habitat integrated into the West Building foundation make the VCC one of the world’s greenest convention centers. The system draws on deep, stable harbor temperatures to reduce energy use. Together with the East Building, which shares space with a cruise ship terminal and the Pan Pacific Hotel, the VCC is the world’s first double LEED Platinum-certified convention centre.
“The global business events industry is extremely competitive, and to once again receive top rankings in the Watkins Report that represents the views of nearly 1,000 meeting planners is both humbling and inspiring,” said Claire Smith, vice president of sales and marketing at Vancouver Convention Centre. “We are truly proud of these results that speak to the strength of our entire hospitality and events community and the global appeal of the Vancouver Convention Centre and the destination.”
Vancouver offers a wide selection of upscale hotels suited to MICE groups, including the Hyatt Regency (644 rooms), Pan Pacific (503), Fairmont Waterfront (489), Four Seasons (372), Fairmont Pacific Rim (367), Rosewood Hotel Georgia (156) and the Shangri-La (119). Metro Vancouver has more than 23,000 hotel rooms, roughly 12,000 of them downtown. The legacy of the 2010 Winter Olympics, a thriving cruise industry, outstanding culinary offerings and a strong green reputation helped Vancouver surpass 10 million annual visitors in recent years, and Vancouver International Airport has added numerous new routes to support that growth.
Aerial view of MICE venue Sea to Sky Gondola Summit Lodge © TOPO FILMS
“I cannot think of any other convention destination that checks all of the boxes like Vancouver does,” said Leslie Zeck, director of meetings for the International and American Associations for Dental Research, reflecting on a recent conference in the city. “After planning meetings across the globe, I can say that organizing or attending a meeting in Vancouver just allows everyone to breathe easier. Vancouver as a destination is the formula for success.”
Newer MICE hotels and venues include Parq Vancouver, a mixed-use downtown “resort destination” designed by Canadian firms ACDF Architecture and Architecture49 and built to LEED Gold standards. Opened in 2017 next to BC Place, Parq comprises three towers and two hotels: a JW Marriott occupying twin eastern towers and The DOUGLAS in the third tower, which opened in 2018.
Combined, the hotels provide more than 470 rooms and 55 luxury suites, plus direct access to Parq’s amenities: eight restaurants and lounges, downtown’s only casino, a 30,000-square-foot elevated park located six floors above street level, a Spa by JW and a modern fitness centre. Parq offers 60,000 square feet of meeting and event space, 13 boardrooms and the 15,000-square-foot Parq Grand Ballroom, Vancouver’s largest hotel ballroom.
“Parq was conceived as the missing link between the active environment of BC Place stadium and the downtown core’s thriving entertainment district,” said Maxime-Alexis Frappier, lead design architect at ACDF. “We have put forward a design that not only fulfills that role but also captures the essence of the city and its breathtaking natural surroundings.”
UNIQUE VENUES
Opening this year, the SeaSide Hotel on the North Vancouver waterfront will offer 72 rooms, ocean-facing spa suites and a lobby bar. Located in The Shipyards development, the property is a quick 12-minute SeaBus ride from the Vancouver Convention Centre. While the hotel itself will not include dedicated meeting rooms, planners can host private groups at the adjacent Joey Shipyards, a 9,000-square-foot restaurant with a patio and theatre kitchen.
On Vancouver’s scenic west side, the University of British Columbia’s The Nest is a five-story, LEED Platinum facility that opened in 2015. With 250,000 square feet of meeting and event space, The Nest features eight eateries—two of which can be booked for full buy-outs—33 breakout rooms and 12 event spaces ranging from 100 to 11,000 square feet. A three-story rock-climbing wall adds an adventurous break option, and catering at the 600-person Great Hall ballroom is 100 percent Ocean Wise certified, reflecting the venue’s commitment to sustainable, ethically sourced food.
About 45 minutes from Vancouver in Squamish, the Sea to Sky Gondola Summit Lodge offers dramatic Coastal Mountains scenery ideal for MICE groups of roughly 100 people. The venue supports outdoor activities such as hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, backcountry skiing and snowshoeing, and it can host private functions in the lodge’s Diamond Head room—perfect for team-building and recreational programs.
In North Vancouver, Two Rivers Specialty Meats showcases a working butchery with a glass-walled dry-age room, a European-style deli and a 32-seat eat-in restaurant, all arranged within a 2,500-square-foot terrazzo-floored industrial space and an additional 16-seat patio. This intimate, characterful venue suits small MICE gatherings and culinary-focused events.