Penticton put on international stage at tourism convention

PENTICTON – Hundres of travel writers and other tourism professionals are set to take over Penticton next week.

The GoMedia convention takes place at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre Sept. 27 to Oct. 1, and is hosted by Tourism Penticton and its partners.

More than 130 national and international travel writers and journalists as well as 140 industry partners are expected to visit the city and help connect Penticton and Canadian tourism with the rest of the world.

The convention provides Penticton with a great opportunity to showcase the area to visiting media, giving exposure to local culinary experiences, local artisans, First Nation’s stories, and media trips to points of interest in the region.

Journalists will also be taken on a number of organized tours during their stay.

“Our ability to reach out to attending media writers with story ideas and new programs and points of interest… gives Tourism Penticton a great advantage in the tourism market,” Executive Director of Tourism Penticton Kelly Hopkins says.

Economic benefits to the community are estimated at $500,000, with the additional benefit of substantial global exposure through television, print and online stories. Last year’s GoMedia host was Winnipeg, which was subsequently featured in 323 media articles and reached an estimated audience of 211 million.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.