Category: Trinity Event Solutions

By Katharine Jordan

Business Events Canada organised an educational trip to Ottawa at the beginning of June 2013, which was supported by Canadian Tours International, Tourisme Outaouais and the Ottawa Convention Bureau. The DMC, Canadian Tours International, was excellent, well-organised and work all over Canada.

The flight time from London is around 7½ hours and the time difference is -5 hours. I was surprised that I wasn’t too tired and it was fine to go for 3 days and not suffer too much with the time difference.

Ottawa is the capital of Canada and on the banks of the Ottawa River. It is a small city (1.2 million people) very open and green. It is easy to get around with a good transport system and the city is home to the national government and a lot of public services.

Ottawa International Airport is a 15 minute transfer to the city centre. There is a public bus service. It is quite a small airport and quick to collect luggage and clear customs (it is the 5th largest airport in Canada). It is served by Air Canada and other international carriers.

We visited a range of restaurants in Ottawa and the surrounding area. The standard of food, service etc was great throughout the trip. If anything, we were given too much to eat.

There is plenty to do in the area for groups of any size or profile. In Ottawa there is a gourmet food tour on food around Byward Market, a cycling sightseeing tour of the city along the river and canals, Museums such as the Canadian Museum of Civilisation, Aboriginal Experience, visiting the Parliament Buildings. In the surrounding area it is possible to visit a Maple Syrup farm with lunch or dinner, Land Rover off-road driving, clay pigeon shooting, aerial experience with obstacles and zip wires, Nordic Spa visit or sightseeing from a vintage aircraft. In the winter, there is skiing.

Hotels visited:

Fairmont Chateau Montebello Hotel

A 5* hotel about 1hr from the centre of Ottawa and 1hr 15mins from Ottawa airport and 1½ hrs from Montreal airport. It is situated on the river, beautifully quiet location, great for activities and miles of land for team building events. Traditional in style with spa, pool, sailing, shooting, off-road driving, it is a popular leisure destination.

Bedrooms 211

Meeting rooms 20

Max capacity 425

Westin Hotel in Ottawa

A 5* hotel in the centre of the city and 15 mins transfer from the airport. Great location for seeing all the sights and walking to restaurants etc. Close to Byward Market – local specialist shops, restaurants and Farmers’ Market. Maximum group size 450.

Bedrooms 496

Meeting rooms 27

Max capacity 1700

Hilton Lac-Leamy

A 5* hotel about 10 mins from the city centre and 25 mins from the airport. The hotel has large meeting space and bedrooms, views over the lake. There is a casino onsite.

Bedrooms 349

Meeting rooms maximum 12 if divided in to smallest sections (flexible so min no is 6)

Max capacity 1600 (ballroom)

Trinity agent Alex Jarvis, Destination Champion for Vienna, is back in the office today after attending the Meetings Show UK on Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th July as a Hosted Buyer.

Alex took the opportunity to meet with representatives from the Vienna Convention Bureau, Imlauer Hotels, InterContinental Vienna, Austria Trend Hotels, Radisson Blu Palais Vienna, Marriott Vienna and Hilton Vienna.

Trinity Event Solutions has published it’s 400th blog in support of the Destination Champion programme, helping to extend destination knowledge, international expertise and direct relationships with overseas venues.

The scheme covers Europe and a little beyond, stretching from Portugal to Greece, Sweden to Malta, and many places in between. Duties include meeting with representatives from hotels and meeting venues here in the UK, attending networking and education events, researching the meetings industry, and visiting the destination itself. Lucky Trinity agents have been able to visit the following locales in order to become a Destination Champion:

Berlin, Barcelona, Budapest, Cannes, Dubai, Florence, Frankfurt, The Hague, Lisbon, Madrid, Malta, Milan, Monaco, Nice, Paris, Prague, Rotterdam, South Africa, Stockholm, Vienna

Codan Consulting will be in Barcelona for the EIBTM from 27th to 29th November 2012 – visit them on the Czech Republic stand K800 and speak with Adina, Agnes and Jana or make an appointment email info@codanconsulting.com.  Whilst in Prague in July this year Elma, a Trinity Agent, met with the Codan Consulting team at the workshop.  Codan Consulting are a Destination Management Company and are able to assist with many arrangements for your events in Prague and Czech Republic. 

Trinity agent Jade Turner recently returned from a 4-day trip to Frankfurt where she was hosted by Marriott Hotels and DMC ‘Conference and Touring’. During her visit she saw 16 different conference and event venues, including hotels, sporting venues, restaurants, conference centres, museums and clubs. Jade also had the luxury of some ‘free time’ which she used to explore the city, visiting the zoo, having lunch on the river and just generally enjoying the 30 + degree temperatures!

Trinity Conferences Business Unit Manager Tory completed her Destination Champion visit to Barcelona at the beginning of August visiting 19 venues and meeting up with the team at Cititravel! Accommodation was kindly hosted by Princess Sofia and Fira Palace.

Collette has been accepted to attend a MICE fam-trip to SWEDEN organised by VisitSweden on 30 August to 2 September, the trip will focus on Gothenburg, Sweden’s 2nd largest city and the 5th largest in the Nordic countries. Check out the VisitSweden website for further info on Gothenburg http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/Regions–Cities/Gothenburg/