Southwest Nova Scotia has been buzzing with the excitement of hosting travel media and tourism professionals from across Canada for the Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) Conference & Media Marketplace. The conference took place at the Rodd Grand Hotel in Yarmouth from June 22 -26 with pre and post conference press trips crossing Southwest Nova Scotia.
TMAC is a Canadian not-for-profit association serving over 300 industry and travel media professionals. The annual conference brings together writers, photographers, bloggers, and social media content producers with destination marketing organizations and travel industry professionals to exchange ideas, experience destinations and learn new skills and best practices. The conference includes a media marketplace, tours, awards, and professional development sessions. This year’s participants were treated to a Lobster Bash dinner featuring local seafood, an exclusive visit on board the Bluenose II, a welcome reception on the CAT Ferry, a Taste of Nova Scotia picnic in Frost Park and a dine around event at the Digby Pines Golf Resort & Spa.
Here are some highlights from the 2022 conference:
200 Participants
The conference hosted 93 travel media delegates and 107 tourism industry delegates from across Canada and several international destinations.
1,700 Appointments
Over the course of four days, there were almost 1,700 individual appointments between travel media and tourism businesses and destinations where they started planning for media partnerships, pitching story ideas, and discussing ways to inspire people to travel.
16 Pre- and post- conference press trips
40 travel media delegates took part in pre-conference press trips between June 19 and 22 while 41 travel media delegates participated in post-conference press trips between June 26 and 29. They explored cultural sites, lighthouses, culinary experiences, golf courses, Dark Sky Preserves, Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site and much more across Southwest Nova Scotia.
17 Local Tours
173 delegates explored various parts of Southwest Nova Scotia on the afternoon of June 23. Some of the experiences included a walking tour of Yarmouth, climbing Cape Forchu Lighthouse, exploring Tusket Islands, digging for clams, haddock fishing, a brewery tour, axe throwing and much more.
71 Award Recipients
TMAC presented 71 awards (from 400 nominations) at the Awards Gala on June 25. Among the award recipients was Pam Wamback, Travel Media Specialist at Tourism Nova Scotia who was named Industry Member of the Year! Pam is a member of the TMAC board and co-chair of the 2022 conference. Congratulations to Pam and all of the award winners!
Hosting the 2022 TMAC Conference was a fantastic opportunity to showcase Nova Scotia to travel media professionals. In addition to plenty of content already shared on social media during the conference, there will also be published articles and videos about Nova Scotia and new media relationships to help strengthen awareness of our province for years to come.
Congratulations to Yarmouth & Acadian Shores Tourism Association and their partners for hosting a successful conference!