Edmonton Destination Marketing Hotels (EDMH) and Explore Edmonton Corporation have formalized a partnership which creates a powerhouse in event attraction and marketing of the City of Edmonton.
The two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding where EDMH will provide important marketing funds to Explore Edmonton to bolster marketing initiatives in the city’s tourism and hospitality sector. This is a key step as Edmonton looks to recover from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While we’ve been working together for a number of years, formalizing an agreement is a key step,” said Explore Edmonton CEO Traci Bednard. “Explore Edmonton is a strong entity; in 2021, despite the pandemic still making an impact, sporting and cultural events coming to the city created $69 million in economic impact. We were able to get to that number because of the support of EDMH and now we can push for even more in this critical time for the visitor economy.”
EDMH, which was formalized in 2013, is a non-profit tourism and hospitality association in Alberta’s capital city which represents 80 per cent of local hotels. Most recently, EDMH provided vital funds to partners which secured the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers at Commonwealth Stadium. Those two games provided over $30 million in economic impact for the city.
With travel and hotel stays not looking to rebound until 2025, both EDMH and Edmonton’s destination management and marketing organization, Explore Edmonton, took a major step forward to formally partner together to make the city a four-season destination of choice for both leisure and business travellers. The collaborative approach will help identify new opportunities for the city and further enhance events coming to Edmonton.
“This is a result of the outstanding collaboration between the EDMH Board and the Explore Edmonton leadership team” said Barnie Yerxa, chair of EDMH. “Both organizations understand the benefit of the work that both sides do and how this relationship benefits the entire city as we continue to market the City of Edmonton as the destination to host conferences, tradeshows, sporting events and any other events that put a spotlight on our city.”
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