Downtown Vancouver is set to get a $15.7-million economic bump next week, as the 5,000-delegate Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Technologies (SIGGRAPH) conference comes to town.
The Vancouver Convention Centre calculated the $15.7-million figure by including direct spending by organizers and delegates during the August 8 through 11 conference, plus two extra days for sightseeing.
The economic bump could be larger as many delegates are likely to bring familly members, and may extend their trips to visit the Okanagan or other places in B.C.
This is the fourth time that the computer graphics and interactive techniques convention has visited Vancouver, since its inaugural visit in 2011, when it set the record as the largest convention held at the Vancouver Convention Centre, drawing 16,000 delegates from 74 countries.
SIGGRAPH rotates its annual conference between cities.
“We love coming to Vancouver,” said the conference's chair, Munkhtsetseg Nandigjav.
“The computer graphics industry in Vancouver has certainly made a global impact, and it’s a privilege to hold our annual conference in one of the world’s most beautiful cities.”
The Vancouver Convention Centre has hosted other large events recently, such as the Anime Revolution conference held July 29 through 31, and the TED2022 conference in April.
The TED2022 conference included an on-stage interview with Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq:TSLA) founder and billionaire Elon Musk soon after he announced his intention to buy Twitter Inc. (Nasdaq:TWTR) for US$44 billion – a deal that he has since tried to pull out of, and has devolved into lawsuits.
