Ep. 424: Vancouver’s YVR: Gateway Airport

Guest: Tamara Vrooman, CEO of Vancouver International Airport

Anyone who passes through Vancouver’s YVR airport recognizes that the facility – like the city, the region and the province it services – is beautiful.

So many other airports around the world are utilitarian structures designed to move people with no regard for the aesthetics that make people feel as if they are in a special place. Tamara Vrooman, the CEO of YVR agrees: “It’s spectacular!”

YVR is not only beautiful – it's functional as well. Tourism and cargo facilitate 20.2 billion dollars in total economic output and 10.4 billion in total GDP, along with 1.4 billion in revenue to the government. More than 26,000 people work at the airport and another 126,000 indirect jobs are linked to the airport. In other words, YVR is a big deal.

The airport is also a vital part of British Columbia’s role as a gateway between North America and Asia, and North America and Europe. Going forward, the airport’s 2037 Master Plan envisions “strengthening the non-passenger side of the business by putting land assets into productive use in cargo and logistics and activating digital opportunities.”

We invited Tamara Vrooman, the CEO of YVR, to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the airport’s role as a diverse global hub.