BC Tourism Industry Conference and BC Hospitality Industry Conference to Merge in 2012-and the Event Needs a New Name!

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Feb. 14, 2012) - The Tourism Industry Association of BC (TIABC) and the host associations of the BC Hospitality Industry Conference, including the BC Hotel Association (BCHA), Alliance of Beverage Licensees of BC (ABLE) and the BC Lodging and Campgrounds Association (BCLCA), are pleased to announce that they will be merging their two independent conferences into one "super" event for the tourism and hospitality industry in 2012.

From November 4th to 6th, professionals from all regions of our province will meet in Vancouver for the first ever combined tourism and hospitality conference. Mark your calendars now as this will be an event that you will not want to miss!

"This is truly an exciting opportunity for the hospitality and broader tourism sectors to come together as a unified industry demonstrating our resolve to work together to continue to grow tourism and grow business in 2012 and beyond," says Lana Denoni, Chair of TIABC.

Building on the success of each of previous events, the new combined conference will offer a wider variety of workshops, exciting new keynote speakers and the unprecedented opportunity to bring government and industry operators together. For the tourism industry, in which hospitality plays an integral role, it presents a unique chance to capitalize on our strength in numbers and come together as one of British Columbia's most important economic drivers and creator of jobs.

Raechelle Williams, the Executive Director of ABLE BC commented, "We are really pleased to be working with TIABC to provide our members with this opportunity to experience a greater depth of knowledge, resources and industry connections than they have in the past. We also recognize many of our members and potential delegates are small business owners who find it difficult to take time away from their business to attend industry events. By combining these two important conferences, we hope to ease that time pressure."

But what to call this new event? Conference organizers are hosting a naming contest - submissions due in by end of day February 27th. If your proposed name is chosen by the committee, you will win a complimentary registration (approx. value $500) to the event in November. Please visit www.hospitality-trade.com or www.bctourismindustryconference.ca for the contest guidelines and more information on how to submit your entry.

The Conference is hosted by the Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia (TIABC), the British Columbia Hotel Association (BCHA), the Alliance of Beverage Licensees of British Columbia (ABLE BC), and the BC Lodging and Campgrounds Association (BCLCA).