Celebrating Local Champions Attracting the World to Calgary

In an ever-competitive meetings and events landscape, attracting and bringing a large-scale, global convention to your city is no small feat. While a world-class venue like the expanded BMO Centre at Stampede Park—Western Canada’s largest convention centre—significantly strengthens Calgary’s convention bids, securing host-city status often comes down to the influence of a local Champion.

Local Champions are leaders in their respective fields and industries, representing everything from science to medicine, business and more. These individuals not only advocate for Calgary, but also serve as essential connectors between international organizations, event planners and local partners. Their involvment helps guide conferences through the decision-making process and ensures a smooth, successful event in the host city.

That’s why earlier this December, Tourism Calgary, which leads the Calgary Champions Program, partnered with the Stampede to bring its Signature Event Showcase to the Champions Ballroom in the BMO Centre.

The event celebrated 11 Calgary Champions for their efforts in advocating for our city and helping bring major conventions to Calgary. Those honoured included Clément Lanthier who brought the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Convention to the BMO Centre, as well as Craig Stokke and Mark Starratt, who brought Calgary and Stampede into the conversation to host the 2025 Rotary International Convention which brought more than 15,000 Rotarians from around the world to Calgary this past June.

“The relationship between the BMO Centre at Stampede Park and the business and academic leaders of our community is vital not only to the growth of Calgary’s convention industry, but to the growth of our city as a whole,” said Greg Newton, Executive Vice-President, Conventions and Events & General Manager BMO Centre at the Calgary Stampede. “By working together, we can strengthen the visitor economy while showcasing our remarkable city to organizations and professionals who may return for leisure or even choose to relocate here, bringing valuable skills, expertise and services that benefit all Calgarians. These partnerships, fostered through business events, play an essential role in highlighting our city and supporting sustainable, meaningful growth.”

Tourism Calgary’s Champions Division works with the BMO Centre at Stampede Park, the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre and the local hotel community to secure large international events. A requirement of bidding on these programs includes having a local champion and a solid business plan to assure international associations that their conferences will be profitable and draw attendees from across the globe.

Together, with the support of Calgary Champions, Tourism Calgary has projected that in 2024, events hosted in Calgary generated $200 million in economic impact, upwards of 187,000 hotel room nights and more than 75,000 delegates across 11 city-wide events. Tourism Calgary expects to surpass those numbers for 2025 after securing 12 city-wide conferences.

Fraser Abbott, director of the Champions Program at Tourism Calgary asserts that “each one of these conferences can serve as a blueprint to catalyze growth by building nodes of innovation across academia, industry and government; helping forge global hubs of excellence; and building a reputation as an attractive destination that can successfully host signature events that showcase our expertise on a global stage and invite the world’s best to work with us and potentially relocate here to be part of our Blue Sky opportunities. They help us retain and attract top global talent and help accelerate economic development and diversification.”

Learn more about hosting events at the BMO Centre at Stampede Park, and the Tourism Calgary Champions Program.