As we reach the halfway point of 2022, we reflect on how PDS and the travel, hospitality and events industry have rebounded and regenerated since the pandemic began. We are grateful to be operating at full capacity for 2022 due to the resilience and innovation of our leadership team.
We have expanded our full-time team, hiring two seasoned industry professionals to help us facilitate the comeback of Western Canada’s meeting and event business. Our passionate event contractors and dedicated Travel Specialists continue to serve our clients and their guests with authenticity and pride.
Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ve been up to….
PDS led the charge in the first quarter of the year, continuing the recovery effort of our industry by hosting the first sizable corporate meetings with seasoned hotel partners from Fairmont properties in Victoria and Whistler. Our clients were keen to be the first out of the gate in their respective industries, trusting that appropriate safety measures and carefully designed programs mean live corporate experiences can operate successfully as we emerge from a global pandemic.
Our client, the EVP and COO of a global community of legal and accounting professional services firms, hosted their 2022 conference in Vancouver, the client’s home city. It was their vision that this conference not only be reflective of the destination but to celebrate cultures, specifically Indigenous Peoples, and the beauty and diversity of Canada.
PDS takes immense pride in building long-term relationships with our clients, like this organization with whom we’ve had the pleasure of working for the past 25 years. We were elated to reconnect and create new memories for their attendees with a custom North Shore Tour, lunch with stunning views at Grouse Mountain, and dinner at Blue Water Cafe in Yaletown. We’re excited to welcome more groups with this client over the next few months.
It was an absolute pleasure to host an awards gala for one of Canada’s largest corporations, who trusted PDS to deliver above and beyond for their discerning guests. This program helped solidify PDS as a leading partner for Canadian Corporate Clients, one of our emerging markets for 2021 and 2022.
During the pandemic, Team Purple unearthed new capabilities allowing us to broaden our horizons with new initiatives that include custom projects beyond traditional DMC and event offerings. Supporting a new client to operate a series of retail store Grand Openings has proven successful.
“I can still feel the energy buzzing from our exciting grand opening events for our first 16 new Specsavers retail & optometry locations in Canada! Thank you for all that you did to make our new store openings run so smoothly and make our new franchise partners and customers feel so special. We could not have done it without your incredible crew!” –
Amanda McGregor, Local Marketing Manager, Specsavers Canada
OUR BRILLIANT NEW TEAM MEMBERS
We are elated to introduce two new full-time members to Team Purple. Please join us in welcoming Grace Webster, PDS Operations Manager, and Natasha Fuoco, PDS Events Manager.
With over 30 years of Canadian and international hospitality, destination management, and event experience, Grace knows a thing or two about engaging corporate programs, logistical planning, and client satisfaction. She proudly joined the PDS team during our longest-running program-logistics facilitation of BC COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics.
Natasha’s background as a competitive athlete, coupled with 20 years in the hospitality and event industry, make her an MVP star on our PDS team. She shines as a leader in the event world, evident by her work on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, 2015 Women’s World Cup, and a plethora of high-profile corporate and public events.
FROM THE BEEHIVE
I couldn’t be happier to be back on the sales road again promoting the benefits of hosting incentives and meetings in Western Canada. Our recent industry events at the SITE Global Conference in Dublin and RVC in Toronto were a huge success, and I’m looking forward to the upcoming Incentive Canada in Halifax, IMEX America in Las Vegas and the FICP Annual Conference in Boston. Representing PDS alongside our industry partners from Destination Canada, Tourism Bureaus, Convention Centres, and BC and AB hotels, and being in front of prospective clients at these shows is critical to our collective success. Canada is in high demand.
Whether you’re a planner from Canada, the USA or around the world, if you are looking to reward your employees in an inspirational and captivating environment, if you need to shake up your meeting content or location, or you dream of letting an award-winning events team handle the heavy lifting and curate a show that ignites the imagination, I invite you to send me your RFP.
We are brilliant together.
Bronwyn Slade,
Director of Sales, PDS
