Virginie De Visscher is Senior Director of Business Development – Economic Sectors at Destination Canada. She is also an Iceberg ambassador. In two video viewpoints, she outlines Canada’s economic sector-specific approach to destination marketing and the increasing focus the organisation is now placing on both leaving business event legacies and on measuring their final impact.
In the first of her two videos, Virginie De Visscher describes Destination Canada’s decision to shift from broad marketing of the country to a much narrower focus on six designated economic sectors targeted for growth. This in turn means working with business events to align the purpose of each meeting quite specifically to the appropriate Canadian destination that has the intellectual capital to best resource the speciality. “Business events is such a catalyst to make change happen”, De Visscher says. “We all have to work in synergy together to make it happen”.
“Business events are such a catalyst to make change happen”.
Meeting “with purpose” means leaving something behind to benefit the destination. Destination Canada has therefore been offering business event partners masterclasses on how to leave legacy and impact. The organisation is also starting long-term research projects into legacy to be conducted by Iceberg partners #MEET4IMPACT and GainingEdge. The idea is to come up with a formula comparing what events set out to leave behind with their eventual impact outcomes, in whatever sector they take place. Destination Canada is even hoping to share this tool with the rest of world when the work is complete.
Virginie De Visscher also discusses aligning meeting purpose with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the recent 24th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2022) in Montreal, and other events that may feature as part of Destination Canada’s legacy research.
“When you meet with purpose, you leave something behind in the destination”.
Further reading:
Three Reasons Strong Intellectual Capital is Crucial for Events (Boardroom article)
Video by Toby Miller.
