Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Foundation
announced the undertaking of the study of the economic impact of the meetings
industry in Canada, having commissioned a team headed by Maritz Research (Canada) and
assisted by Greenfield Services, the Canadian Tourism Human Resources Council
and The Conference Board of Canada.
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| (L to R) Scott Meis, CTHRC; Allison Simpson, Amanda Chan & Rachel Cameron, Maritz Research; Hélène Moberg, & Rita Plaskett, MPI Foundation Canada; Doreen Ashton Wagner, Greenfield Services Inc. Not pictured, Greg Hermus, Conference Board of Canada. |
Greenfield will be the data gathering partner, focusing on
community outreach and communication with Canadian and international meeting
professionals as well as meeting facilities across Canada.
This will be the second time Greenfield collaborates with
this research team. The first time was
in 2006 when the original Canadian Economic Impact Study (CEIS) of the meetings industry was commissioned by MPI. It found that:
- Canada’s meeting sector organized 671,000 meetings in 2006,
- Welcomed 70.2 million participants,
- Created the equivalent of 235,500 full-year jobs,
- And accounted for $32.2 billion in direct spending ($23.3 billion by meeting participants and $8.9 billion by non-participant sponsors and stakeholders).
The study was updated in 2008 and showed a 2.5% spending
growth from 2006 to 2007, but a 0.1% decline the following year. No data is available for subsequent years, so this endeavour will fill a much needed void.
Since the original Canadian study the meetings
industry’s economic impact has been assessed in other countries including the USA, Mexico and soon to
be released in the U.K. All other studies benefitted from the survey
approach originally developed by the Canadian team, according to UNWTO
guidelines.
This study,
dubbed “CEIS 3.0” will continue providing key economic benchmarks as well as
extend the research to regional and municipal levels. The results will be more
actionable at the local level, as well as addressing the share of GDP,
employment, salaries/wages, and taxes at local, regional and provincial levels.
Results also will support the
development of a meetings-specific, regional economic contribution model, the
first in the world.
