Marco De Iaco

Marco is a graduate from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary and the former VP of Sport, Culture and Major Events at Tourism Calgary. He left University in 2002 to create a competitive and responsible approach to sport event tourism. Recognized as a best practice model in Canada, the strategy resulted in the creation of the Calgary Sport Tourism Authority in 2005.

Marco led a collaborative, city-wide effort to attract events to Calgary and invest strategically into amateur sport for over 12 years. Highlights include: the CN Canadian Women’s Open, the SHAW Charity Classic, the World Water-Ski Championship, Cavalia and the 2015 Canadian Open Volleyball Championship. He played key role in the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship – uniting Calgary and Edmonton for the first time to deliver an event that broke 30-year records for ticket sales, attendance, and economic activity. Under Marco’s tenure, Calgary was twice recognized as one of the top 10 sport cities in the world by Sport Business International of London.

He recently chaired the JUNO Awards and JUNO Week Celebrations for the second time in 2016 – the most important music event in Canada – resulting in what many industry insiders touted as one of the best JUNO Awards staged in the 45-year history of the event.

Later that year, as the Executive Director of the Calgary Sport Tourism Authority, Marco led and co-presented a pitch to Calgary City Council – establishing the Calgary Olympic Bid Exploration Committee. In late 2016 and into 2017, he served as the Director of Olympic Bid Exploration – responsible for developing the Overall Concept and Master Facilities Plan to stage and deliver the 2026 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games. His mandate included: all Sporting Venues, Villages, Accommodations, Media Facilities, Transportation, Environment and Sustainability.