Edmonton Tourism also books one of Canada’s largest conventions for 2010

Edmonton Tourism, in association with industry partners, is pleased to announce that Edmonton recently won the bid for the American Association of Physics Teachers this summer (July 12-25) as well as the prestigious Society for Conservation Biology convention in 2010.

The Canadian Diabetes Association has also selected Edmonton for their 2010 national convention — one of the largest annual conventions in Canada.

American Association of Physics Teachers (Washington, DC)

• July 12-25, 2008 (University of Alberta) 
• 1,000-plus delegates (estimated economic impact = $600,000-plus) 
• AAPT is the leading organization supporting physics and physical science teachers 
• Noteworthy: This conference will attract science / physics educators from around the world; the vast majority will be from the US

Contact: Terry Singleton, (780) 492-5878 / terry@phys.ualberta.ca / www.aapt.org

“The University of Alberta is one of Canada's major research universities,” says John Beamish, Chair, University of Alberta’s Department of Physics. “Together with the Physics Department's long-standing interest in physics education and the enthusiastic support of northern Alberta's very active group of high school physics teachers, Edmonton was an obvious choice for the AAPT's 2008 conference.”

Society for Conservation Biology (Washington, DC) 

• July 3-7, 2010 (Shaw Conference Centre) 
• 1,500-2,000 delegates (estimated economic impact = $1.5 million) 
• SCB is the largest scientific organization in the world focused on conservation 
• Noteworthy: First time in Canada; Montreal and Quebec City also bid for this event

Contact: Mark Boyce, (780) 492-0081 / boyce@ualberta.ca / www.conbio.org

“The Society for Conservation Biology is the largest scientific organization in the world focused on conservation,” says Mark Boyce, Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, and Alberta Conservation Association Chair in Fisheries and Wildlife. “Edmonton was an ideal choice for our 2010 convention as Alberta is undergoing an enormous transformation associated with industrial development and the University of Alberta is the leading academic institution in Canada in the study of conservation.”

Canadian Diabetes Association (Toronto) 

• Oct. 19-23, 2010 (Shaw Conference Centre) 
• 2,500 delegates (estimated economic impact = $1.4 million) 
• CDA offers programs to support Canadians and also raises awareness about diabetes 
• Noteworthy: one of the largest Canadian conferences; last in Edmonton in 2005

“The Canadian Diabetes Association repeatedly chooses Edmonton for its professional conference because of the professional service, economical venues, close proximity of hotels to the conference centre and the small-town feel of hosting a conference in a big city,” says Alison Armstong, CDA’s manager of National Meetings and Conference Services.

Contact: Alison Armstrong (416) 408-7082 / Alison.Armstrong@diabetes.ca / www.diabetes.ca

Edmonton Tourism

“Edmonton is increasingly tapping into the mammoth US convention market as a result of highly focused marketing as well as our region’s compelling social and physical infrastructure,” says Ken Fiske, vice-president of Tourism and Marketing. “We’re targeting producing 140 bids in 2008 that will achieve future convention and event sales of 75,000 room nights valued at $22.2 million.”

Edmonton Tourism is part of Edmonton Economic Development Corp. (www.edmonton.com/eedc-corporate.aspx). EEDC is a not-for-profit company owned by the City of Edmonton that is responsible for regional economic development, regional tourism, the Shaw Conference Centre and Edmonton Research Park.

Note: The estimated economic impact of a conference is derived by multiplying the number of room nights by a standard multiplier used in the meetings, convention and business travel industry.

Media Contact
Kenn Bur, Director of Communications
Edmonton Economic Development Corp.
(780) 917-7659
kbur@edmonton.com