Connect in Ottawa newsletter – Winter 2023

One of the best destinations to visit in 2023

Ottawa was chosen by CNN as one of the best destinations to visit in 2023. Ottawa is a beautiful, graceful place with its own charms.

Bonjour Paris-Ottawa!

The service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier (YOW) will be inaugurated on June 27, 2023, and will be operated five times weekly – Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays – on Air France’s 224-seater Airbus A330-200 (36 in Business, 21 in Premium Economy, and 167 in Economy).

Direct flights to YOW from Porter Airlines

Porter will be the only airline providing year-round daily direct flights to Boston, Quebec City, Thunder Bay and Charlottetown from Ottawa. People from Canada’s Capital Region will benefit from the convenient travel links these routes provide.

• Starting March 27, 2023 passengers will be able to fly on daily non-stop flights between Ottawa and Boston, New York-Newark, Quebec City and Thunder Bay, featuring Porter’s elevated economy experience. News. Get the latest updates I Porter Airlines (flyporter.com)
• Porter Airlines is launching direct service between Ottawa International Airport and Charlottetown Airport, with flights taking off on May 17. Porter will be the only airline offering daily non-stop service between Ottawa and Charlottetown, with flights initially available until the last week of October. Porter Airlines launching non-stop Ottawa-Charlottetown flights (newswire.ca)

Meet Riley, our new Corporate Market Business Events Seller (Toronto based)

We are thrilled to welcome Riley Magill, our Sales Manager, Business Events who will be working remotely from Toronto! Riley will lead taking on the corporate market and is excited to dive in and get to know planners and partners alike! She completed schooling at Seneca College and York University. She took a specialization program called "Travel and Tourism: Meetings, Incentives and Conventions" where she graduated at the top of her class and was offered a scholarship to continue her studies. Riley then received a double major in both Professional and Creative Writing Honors Programs from York University.

Fueled by her passion for understanding and learning new things, she will be fine tuning her professional development with us here at Ottawa Tourism. Outside of work, she likes to enjoy nature and all things outdoors with a book or creative project in hand.

ICCA NA Summit

In celebration of Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) 2023 and collaborating with the MPI Ottawa Chapter we are excited to announce the dates of the ICCA North America Chapter Summit open to suppliers and associations. The event will take place 30-31 March 2023 in Ottawa, Canada.

Meet Week Recap + Emerging Leaders Bursary

The Business Events team welcomed meeting planners from around the country during Meet Week this month which took place throughout Ottawa from February 6th-9th.

Throughout the week, attendees were treated to a diverse array of sessions, workshops, and networking events. Some of the highlights of the week include:

Destination Direct, where we met with 20 individual association and corporate meeting planners and decision makers in a speed-dating style, 2-day event, CSAE’s Annual Tete-a-Tete Tradeshow; Team Ottawa was in full force on the tradeshow floor with 19 Ottawa partners representing at our booth! Ten Industry Emerging Leaders were hosted at the Side Door Restaurant for an exclusive dinner, and all were awarded with a 1-year CSAE membership.

MPI and PCMA Educational events rounded out Meet Week, capped off by the MPI Charity Auction & Dinner at the Canadian Museum of History.

BEC Advisory Committee Meeting

Lesley Mackay, VP of Meetings and Major Events at Ottawa Tourism is the current Chair of the Destination Canada Business Events Advisory Committee. The Committee met in Montreal for a two-day meeting January 17-19, 2023. The Destination Cananda Business Events (DCBE) Committee consults with the business events sector of Canada’s tourism industry via the Committee members. Lesley is seen here with her Advisory Committee Peers as well as a few members of the team from Destination Canada, Business Events.

Faces Awards Nominations

We're delighted to share that Ottawa Tourism and 4 of its employees were nominated for “The 2022 Ottawa Awards” hosted by Faces Magazine. It's a great accomplishment to be recognized by peers and receive this nomination in Ottawa. Some of the Ottawa Tourism nominations best workplace over 25 people for Ottawa Tourism, and Julie Clement, Business Events Sales Manager who was nominated for Best Manager.

The global issue of human trafficking

Human trafficking is a global issue that affects communities everywhere. One of the several misconceptions surrounding human trafficking is that it doesn’t happen in Canada. 66% of reported cases occur in Ontario, and 11% of those occur right here in Ottawa. February 22nd was National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada. Click here to take action against human trafficking: https://lnkd.in/eeU4qPxn

On the blog

Go Green at Casino Lac Leamy. Recognizing the need to reduce the environmental impacts of meetings, events, and conferences, the Casino Lac-Leamy Conference Centre offers a wide range of options for event planners who want to embrace and promote the principles of sustainability.

New apartment style accommodations

Sonder The O’Connor is your home away from home in Ottawa. Sonder offers guests a convenient and tech-enabled experience—just check in, request fresh towels, and get dinner recommendations from your phone. All Sonder units include a fully equipped kitchen and convenient laundry facilities within the building. By combining award-winning design with modern services, Sonder redefines hospitality by bringing exceptional stays everywhere.

New entertainment district

A group of Ottawa chefs have banded together to breathe new life into the downtown core, which is still struggling to recover from the fallout of Covid. SoPa (South of Parliament) is the new creation of the entertainment district in Ottawa, home to some of Ottawa's best restaurants and within walking distance to Parliament Hill, the National Arts Centre and Rideau Canal.

Upcoming events

• PCMA Visionary Awards - March 6-10 2023
• Gleneagles Reunion – April 24-25 2023
• The Event MPI – May 11-13 2023

Upcoming hosting citywide events

• International Statistical Institute World Congress 2023 – returning to Ottawa for the first time in 60 years with 2000 delegates from July 12th to July 20th 2023.
• IEEE (Institute Of Electrical & Electronics Engineers) Sections Congress 2023 – 1300 delegates from August 7th to August 15th 2023.