Staff from the Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board recently attended the Canadian Meetings and Events Expo (CMEE) in Toronto, August 16-17. The trade show, which took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, is the largest and longest-running tradeshow and conference for meeting and event professionals and provides a platform for networking with suppliers from Canadian, US and International destinations, venues, financial organizations, tech companies and associations.
Bay of Quinte was one of 139 vendors, alongside dozens of destinations, including Kingston, Toronto and Montreal. Dug Stevenson and Trevor Norris, who represented the Regional Marketing Board team met with over 100 professionals from organizations like TD Bank, BMO Financial Group, the University of Toronto and Loblaws.
“Planners are looking for destinations that can offer a unique relationship with nature and the outdoors and this region has exactly what they’re looking for – cycling, paddling, fishing, golf”, notes Trevor Norris, Bay of Quinte’s destination development manager. “At the same time, we have all the infrastructure and meeting venues they need, plus we can offer an a la carte suite of experiences, a focus on local food and beverage, and a stage from which to disconnect as well as inspire maximum creativity.”
The Bay of Quinte exhibit included strong branding visuals, regional collateral and local food and drink served by Chef Matt Demille, along with a chance for meeting and event planners to win incentive travel budget for their corporate groups. “We’re new to corporate travel, so we wanted to try and set ourselves apart,” adds Norris. “To do that, we gave corporate planners a chance to win up to $1,500 to spend on local food, accommodations, or activities as long as they bring a group of 10 or more for at least 2 nights. The return on investment coming from corporate groups like this is huge, so it’s an excellent use of the Municipal Accommodation Tax funding we receive from our community partners to try and incentivize corporate bookings.”
The Regional Marketing Board has already received multiple serious inquiries for bookings as a result of CMEE and will be following up with interested agencies over the coming weeks for potential activity in 2023 and 2024.
Media release by the Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board
