Garden Tourism Conference Agenda

November 3 to 5, 2019 – Victoria, BC

Sunday, November 3, 2019
9:00 – 10:00 am	Registration Pick up your Lee Valley Tools delegate bag.	Hotel Grand Pacific Lobby
9:30 – 4:00 pm (bus departs Hotel Grand Pacific at 9:30 a.m.)	Bus departs Hotel Grand Pacific at 9:30 a.m. for the Victoria Garden Tour – SOLD OUT!	This step-on, guided tour starts at the Hotel Grand Pacific and includes a drive-by of Government House followed by a quick visit to Abkhazi Gardens. From there we will travel to the magnificent gardens at Hatley Castle –the site of Royal Roads University, followed by a stop at the gardens at the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific. The journey will finish with a historical guided tour and back-of-house greenhouse tour at The Butchart Gardens. A boxed lunch will be provided.
3:00 – 5:00 pm	Registration Pick up your Lee Valley Tools delegate bag.
5:30 – 7:30 pm	Opening Night Reception Sponsored by Destination Greater Victoria	The Atrium, Parkside Hotel. Join us for the first official event of the conference and the opportunity to network and mingle with your garden tourism peers from around the world. The reception is being hosted in the Atrium of the beautiful Parkside Hotel, a space where indoor meets outdoor without the worry of Victoria’s sometimes unpredictable weather! Come and enjoy a cocktail and a nibble while connecting with old friends and new in this unique setting.
Monday, November 4, 2019 – Presented by The Butchart Gardens
7:30 – 8:30 am	Networking Breakfast Sponsored by The Butchart Gardens
8:30 am	Welcome, Introductions & Conference Overview – Intro of Moderators	Michel Gauthier – Executive Director, Canadian Garden Council
		Richard Doran – Marketing and Communications Manager, APGA
		Paul Nursey – CEO, Destination Greater Victoria
		Geoff Ball – Chair, Gardens BC
9:00 am	Keynotes Garden – How Chanticleer Partners with the Philadelphia Region for Tourism Success	Bill Thomas – Executive Director, Chanticleer Foundation – USA
9:30 am	Growing Together – A provocative, well-researched look at how garden tourism can work positively in destinations and achieve success.	Paul Nursey, CEO, Destination Greater Victoria – Canada
10:00 am	The B.C. Garden Tourism Sector – Competitive Position & Growth Potential	Dave Cowen, CEO, The Butchart Gardens – Canada
10:30 – 11:00 am	Networking Break Sponsored by Garden Promenade	Marketplace Sponsored by Royal Roads University
11:00 am	Making A Botanic Garden Business Case For Growth	Harry Jongerden – Director, Toronto Botanical Garden – Canada
11:30 am	The Imagineering of Flower Gardens and Festivals Sponsored by Destination Greater Victoria	Ibo Gulsen – Director IGMPR, Flowers, Parks & More – Netherlands
12:00 – 1:30 pm	Luncheon – Celebrating Garden Tourism in British Columbia	Presentation from Marsha Walden, CEO, Destination British Columbia – Garden Tourism in a BC Setting Announcement of the first Gardens BC Garden Tourism Awards
1:30 pm	Beyond the Garden: the Chelsea Fringe Festival a Model for Activating Cities and Regions Sponsored by Destination Greater Victoria	Tim Richardson – Founder-Director, Chelsea Fringe – UK
2:00 pm	Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden’s Recipe to Garden Tourism Success	Michelle Day – Executive Director, Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden – Canada
2:30 pm	What Makes a Blooming Destination a Success	Cindy Verge – Executive Director, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival – USA
3:00 – 3:30 pm	Networking Break Sponsored by Milner Gardens & Woodland	Marketplace Sponsored by Royal Roads University
3:30 pm	The Garden Promenade	Michel Gauthier – President, Gardens Ottawa & Kath Thompson – Garden Promenade Manager, Canada
4:00 pm	Creating a Successful Garden Tour	Lois Moss – Gardens Dot Tours LLC – USA
4:30 pm	Garden Bathing	Brian White – Program Head for the Master of Arts in Tourism Management at Royal Roads University – Canada
5:00 – 5:30 pm	Moderators Wrap-up Panel
5:30 – 6:00 pm	Special Screening of The Garden of Secrets. Watch trailer: THE GARDEN OF SECRETS	Luxury tea purveyor, TEALEAVES has partnered with UBC Botanical Garden over the past five years to create The Garden of Secrets. This short documentary explores botanical gardens as places that house design inspiration for solutions to our most pressing problems and as crucial touchpoints for urban dwellers to reconnect with nature.
6:30 pm	Free Night	Dining suggestions and reservations available at the conference registration.
Tuesday, November 5, 2019 – Presented by Destination Greater Victoria
7:30 – 8:30 am	Networking Breakfast Sponsored by APGA
8:30 am	Introduction of Moderators	Michel Gauthier – Executive Director, Canadian Garden Council
8:45 am	The Difference a Festival Can Make	Alexander Reford – Director, International Garden Festival and Reford Gardens – Canada
9:15 am	Discover How Scottish Gardens Attract Garden Visitors to Scotland Sponsored by Destination Greater Victoria	Catherine Erskine – Trustee, Scotland`s Garden Route/ Cambo Gardens – Scotland
9:45 am	Marketing an Expanded Visitor Experience	Mary Pat – President CEO, Atlanta Botanical Garden – USA
10:15 – 10:45 am	Networking Break Sponsored by Landscape BC	Marketplace Sponsored by Royal Roads University
10:45 – 11:15 am	How a Flower Changed Portland Oregon	Jeff Curtis – Chief Executive Officer, Portland Rose Festival Foundation – USA
11:15 am – 12:00 pm	The Garden that Love Built	Cathy Armstrong – Executive Director, The Land Conservancy/Abkhazi Garden – Canada
12:00 – 2:00 pm	Garden Tourism Awards Luncheon Sponsored by the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association
2:00 pm	The Difference a New Garden Makes	Nora Whitcher – Director, Visitor Services, University of Alberta Botanic Garden – Canada
2:30 pm	South Korea Garden Tourism: From Suncheon Bay Garden Expo to Seoul’s Skygarden Sponsored by Destination Greater Victoria	Professor Jeong – Dean of Graduate School of Tourism and Festival Management, Paichai University – South Korea Yu Mihyeon – Suncheon City Festival Officer, Suncheonman National Garden – South Korea
3:00 – 3:30 pm	Networking Break Sponsored by Quebec Gardens’ Association & Reford Gardens	Marketplace Sponsored by Royal Roads University
3:30 pm	From a Tulip Bulb Farm to a Garden Tourism Attraction	Kate Onos-Gilbert – Owner/Operator, Tulips of the Valley – Canada
4:00 pm	Transforming the Garden Experience: Where Nature, Culture and Community Unite	Gerald Dieleman – Project Director of Canada’s Diversity Gardens at the Assiniboine Park Conservancy, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
4:30 pm	Leadership in Garden Tourism Sponsored by Destination Greater Victoria	Heike Platter, International Relations – The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle – Italy
5:00 pm	Moderators Wrap-up Panel