MONTRÉAL ESTIMATES BIG ECONOMIC BENEFITS AS UITP SUMMIT HOST
UITP’s Summit, beyond being a unique event that covers all urban and regional transport modes, is also a major source of income for the cities where it is hosted. Having the potential to bring thousands of people into these cities, it is widely regarded as a large economic influencer. It is estimated that for every 1 euro in revenue earned by the host centre, up to 7 euros are generated in the local economy.
The 2017 edition of the Summit will be held in the ‘Palais des congrès de Montréal’, and it is already projected that, together with the World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and 2017 ITS America Annual Meeting, two other events taking place in the same period, it will bring over 13,000 attendees, 560 exhibitors as well as over 35,000 hotel nights into the city.
These numbers amount to an estimated 33 million CAD (23.5 million euros) of direct economic impact for the city of Montréal. “The city of Montréal and the ‘Palais des congrès’ have all the assets to increase the satisfaction of the attendees of these congresses,” said Raymond Larivée, CEO of the Palais des congrès in Montréal.
The concentrated efforts of the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, the Montreal Transit Corporation, the City of Montréal, Tourisme Montreal and the Palais des congrès – led to the decision choosing Montréal as the host of UITP’s Summit as well as other major events.
The last UITP Summit (previously called “UITP World Congress and Exhibition”), held in 2015 in Milan brought about 2,250 participants and 280 exhibitors from 40 countries to the Italian city, with the event result revenue that comes along for the city.