GainingEdge Adds Tourism Expert to Consulting Mix

GainingEdge has announced the appointment of Stephen Pearce (cover photo) as a partner responsible for Tourism and Leisure Development Consulting. Stephen had a distinguished 19-year career with Tourism Vancouver where he was the Vice President, Marketing and led the agency’s international strategy.

“Over the past 16 years, we have focussed primarily on the business events side of destination advisory services,” GainingEdge CEO, Jon Sivertson said. “But increasingly we have found that many of our clients also needed support in leisure market development. We decided we should round out our services offering to meet those needs as well.”

Sivertson said the new practice would allow GainingEdge to support bureaus and governments to strengthen their market approaches and grow their tourism business. “We think we found the best possible person to lead this effort for us. Vancouver has always been an acknowledged world leader, and Steve was one of the key people who put Vancouver on the map.”

Pearce said he felt some of the major accomplishments of his team in Vancouver included strong branding, destination development, expanding air service through creation of an air route development consortium, and a long-term strategic relationship with Chinese mega company Tencent – the first of its kind in North America.

“I think most people would probably say that Vancouver has really cemented its place as one of the most sought after travel destinations in the world.” Pearce said. “It has been exciting times, but now I’m eager for new challenges and to use that experience to help other destinations achieve their own break-throughs.” Pearce has chaired research and market advisory committees at the national level in Canada and was an executive director with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for several years. He will continue to be based out of Vancouver.

GainingEdge is a global specialist consulting firm advising the tourism and business events industry and associations since 2004. It provides a data-driven approach to market synthesis and on strategic recommendations that are specific, practical, and actionable. GainingEdge has offices in Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Paris, The Hague, Johannesburg, Dubai, and Vancouver.