CANADA - Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC) this week hosts 10,000 risk management and insurance professionals from around the world for the Risk and Insurance Management Society’s (RIMS) 2011 Annual Conference and Exhibition.
“We are delighted to welcome this prestigious international conference to our city for the first time, one that we could not have accommodated prior to our facility’s expansion,” said Ken Cretney, VCC General Manager.
RIMS will use both the East and West buildings until the convention closes 5 May.
The largest gathering of risk management practitioners in the world, RIMS 2011 will contribute CAN$23m in direct spend to the province.
"The global meetings industry has grown increasingly competitive and securing prestigious city-wide events such as RIMS requires years of dedicated work," said James Terry Chair of Tourism Vancouver's Board of Directors.
Tourism Vancouver first approached RIMS in 1999 and 10 years later the event is in town.
RIMS held its last annual conference in Canada in Toronto in 1996 and Salvatore Chiarelli, the association’s Director of Meetings and Events, said the VCC expansion, which has tripled the size to 1,100,000sqm was a key element in the decision to return to Canada.
This year is shaping up to be the largest convention year ever for Vancouver with 323 major events confirmed to date.
The Vancouver Convention Centre is the only two-time winner of the International Association of Congress Centres’ APEX award for ‘World’s Best Convention Centre’.
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