Web Summit, the company behind some of the world's best-known technology conferences, has announced that it is launching a North American flagship event in Vancouver.
Taking place in May next year, web Summit Vancouver will replace the existing Collision summit in Toronto, changing the travel plans of thousands of tech entrepreneurs and investors.
Web Summit said next week's final Collision conference would add $77m in economic impact to Toronto with more than 40,000 tech entrepreneurs from over 130 countries expected to attend.
In a statement, Andrew Weir, the president and CEO of Destination Toronto, said the city was focused on 'attracting new events that stimulate visitation, investment and talent attraction'.
Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrove said Vancouver was an 'underdog' in the bidding war to host the event - the city had to see off competition from Mexico City - but that he was blown away by the city's 'energy and vision'.
“We can’t wait to gather the tech world in Vancouver and take over the city next year. Last month I flew to Vancouver to check out the city and meet Mayor Ken Sim and Destination Vancouver. I was so blown away by its beauty and tech scene. It’s the perfect place to bring the tech world,” he said. “Similar to Lisbon, Vancouver and British Columbia might seem like the underdogs at first but the energy and drive to build on an already very fast-growing technology ecosystem blew me away.”
With more than 11,000 tech companies employing more than 220,000 British Columbians, technology is the fastest growing sector in the province. The regional tech sector is growing at twice the rate of the overall economy and Vancouver ranks first in high tech job growth in North America. Hosting Web Summit could add $93m to the region's economy in the first year.
The importance of the announcement was echoed by a consortium of organisations, led by Destination Vancouver, and in partnership with Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan), B.C.’s Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation (JEDI), the City of Vancouver, and tech industry leaders, who helped bring the event to Vancouver.
“PacifiCan is here to champion B.C. as a global hub for innovation and technology, with cutting- edge talent and companies that are poised for international growth,” said the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan). “Web Summit Vancouver is a transformative opportunity for the region that will create conditions for ongoing growth that will continue for years.”
“British Columbia has a 30-year track record of creating and advancing world-class technologies and we want to scale up our ability to commercialise innovation and translate these successes into a sustainable competitive advantage for our provincial economy,” said the Honourable Brenda Bailey, B.C.’s Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation (JEDI).
The tech sector is a critical pillar of B.C.’s economy and has supported Vancouver’s maturation into a global hub for cleantech, life sciences and digital entertainment, including animation, visual effects, games development, and virtual, augmented and extended reality.
The province has the world’s largest cluster of computer vision companies and the second-largest concentration (after Silicon Valley) of VR, AR and MR startups. Vancouver has the largest cluster of the leading VFX and animation studios and one of the top video games clusters in the world.
Royce Chwin, president & CEO, Destination Vancouver, said: “A transformational event of this calibre will continue to build our reputation as an exceptional host city and sharpen Vancouver’s global destination competitiveness. And it will be an economic powerhouse – we anticipate that Web Summit Vancouver will generate close $57m in direct spending and more than $93m in overall economic impact for BC in its first year.”
Written By
James Lancaster
AMI editor James
Lancaster is a familiar face in the meetings industry and international
association community. Since joining AMI in 2010, he has gained a reputation
for asking difficult questions and getting lost in convention centres. Proofer, podcaster, and panellist - in his spare time, James likes to walk,
read, listen to music, and drink beer.
