It’s a Wrap!

Over 90 delegates from 40 gardens and 12 countries joined us in Victoria BC from 1-4 November to seize the moment. These gardens alone host more than 17 million (ticketed) visitors each year and growing. Thank you for your participation and inspiring stories, looking forward to the next conference in 2025!

This innovating event revolves around the theme “Seizing the Moment,” recognizing the abundant possibilities for gardens and the tourism sector to collaborate to enhance the appeal of gardens as well as destinations, especially post-pandemic, thereby attracting more visitors. 

Speakers

We are delighted to announce the first line-up of speakers who will join our conference this fall. This list will be updated on a regular basis as we move closer to August when we finalise the detailed programme and topics. We expect to announce a total of 20 speakers from the Gardens and Tourism industry.

Michael Harvey

Adelaide Botanic Garden, Australia

Mary Pat Matheson

Atlanta Botanical Garden, USA

Paul Nursey

Destination Greater Victoria, Canada

Bill Hardy

Communities in Bloom, Canada

Jill Smillie

The Butchart Gardens, Canada

Linda Hart

Holland Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, USA

Cao Guangshu

Classical Gardens of Suzhou, China

Jessica Boatright

Atlanta Botanical Garden

Gwen Auwerda

Tulip Time, USA

Richard Benfield

Garden Tourism Author, USA

Thomas Pintal

Moment Factory

Igor Josifovic-Kemper

Urban Jungle Bloggers, Germany

Felix Loh

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Jason Koo

Gardens by the Bay

Robert Price

Vallarta Botanical Garden, Mexico

Darren Heimbecker

Whistling Gardens, Canada

Gerald Dieleman

Assiniboine Park Conservancy - The Leaf, Canada

Pascal Garbe

France

Graham Dillamore

Michelle Day

Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, Canada

Dave Cowen

The Butchart Gardens, Canada

Angela Cassie

Travel Manitoba, Canada

Treve Evans

AIPH – International Association of Horticultural Producers

Wanda Heimbecker

Whistling Gardens, Canada

View all Speakers

Schedule

This conference will be all about the destination development and promotion of your garden. The main topics and presentations titles are listed in the schedule below. More details will be added on a continuing basis towards July.

  • 09:00 - 12:00

    Option 1) Victoria Garden City Walking Tour

    From the conference hotel we will take a leisurely walk through several gardens in the nearby Parliamentary Precinct, then start wending our way through the James Bay neighbourhood, the oldest in the city. Here we will walk past well-preserved heritage houses on tree-lined streets (including the birthplace of Emily Carr). Along the way, we have made arrangements to visit some of the small private gardens that showcase many different styles of home gardens: a forest garden, a heritage garden, an urban farm, and a secluded, hidden shade garden (a true gem). On the return route to the hotel, our path will take us through the main garden features in Beacon Hill Park, with its artificial lakes, bridges and formal landscapes, as well as through the park's beautiful natural areas. The restored grounds of St. Ann's Academy, an 1871 convent now a National Historic Site, will be the last stop before we return to the hotel.

  • 09:00 - 14:00

    Option 2) Vancouver Island Gardens Bus Tour

    Stop 1 – Abkhazi Garden Website : https://www.abkhaziteahouse.com/abkhazi-garden The Abkhazi Garden is an exquisite heritage home and garden Prince and Princess Abkhazi began creating their garden in 1946. They immediately began to develop their one-acre property, and continued to maintain and improve the garden throughout their lives together. Stop 2 - Hatley Park Gardens Website : https://hatleypark.ca/visit-us/hatley-park-gardens The gardens at Hatley Park Historic Site, home to Royal Roads University, are among the finest Edwardian gardens in Canada. The extensive grounds include a magnificent forest of old growth Douglas Fir. The Japanese, Italian, and rose formal gardens have existed for more than a century on the shores of Esquimalt Lagoon. Stop 3 – Gardens at Horticulture Centre of the Pacific (HCP) Website : https://hcp.ca/visit/gardens/ The Gardens at Horticulture Centre of the Pacific (HCP), home to the Pacific Horticulture College, presents a year-round garden experience that all can enjoy. The HCP is recognized as a welcoming place that inspires a love of gardens and nature, shares horticultural knowledge and experience with everyone, produces certified horticultural professionals, and demonstrates environmental stewardship fur future generations.

  • 15.00 - 16.00

    Seizing the Moment Farewell Reception

    Farewell reception at Bartholomew’s (downstairs of the Doubletree Hotel)

Partners

Destination Canada
American Public Gardens Association
Canadian Nursery and Landscape Association
Canadian Garden Council
AIPH
Destination Greater Victoria
Communities in Bloom
North American Japanese Garden Association
The Australian Garden Council

Event venue

  • Victoria Conference Centre
  • +1 6133014554
  • registration@gardentourism.org