Conferences give Glasgow £120m boost

Senior reporter

Tuesday 17 April 2012

GLASGOW is outperforming London in securing lucrative conference business and beating competition from major European capitals with winning bids for major events.

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GERRY BRAIDEN

In the last financial year, conferences worth more than £120 million were confirmed for Glasgow, a 10% year-on-year growth in domestic and international business.

According to the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB), the official marketing organisation for the city, London's Convention Bureau's figures for the same period came in at £103m.

Among the conferences attracted to Glasgow in recent months are three major medical events expected to attract around 10,000 health professionals from across the world that will provide a near-£15m boost to the local economy. In winning these meetings, the city beat competition from Lisbon, Prague, Rome, Dublin, Bucharest and Berlin. GCMB's figures for the year to March 31 revealed 278 conventions were confirmed through to 2017, which equates to more than 410,000 hotel delegate room nights. Conference delegates account for one in five hotel beds sold in the city.GCMB chief executive Scott Taylor said: "To have secured £120m of new conference business, at a time when global competition is incredibly fierce, is a fantastic achievement. Many people comment that Glasgow is unique in its welcome. As well as it being in our nature, much of this comes from the relationship we have with our city partners, especially the SECC, our five universities, the Greater Glasgow Hotels Association, Glasgow Restaurant Association and the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce."Our year-end results are a clear endorsement of the confidence that the meetings industry continues to have in Glasgow and further strengthens our reputation both as the conference capital of Scotland and a major player within the international conference market."The average spend calculations are based on an agreed formula used by all UK nations. Among major meetings confirmed by GCMB in 2011-12 are the Europaediatrics Congress in July 2013, the Société Internationale d'Urologie Congress in October 2014 and the International Conference of the Association for Medical Education in Europe in September 2015. Although not part of the financial figures, in the past fortnight the Liberal Democrats have announced they will hold next year's autumn conference at the SECC, netting £12m for Glasgow. It will be the first time Scotland has hosted a national LibDem party conference for more than a decade and the five-day event will attract around 7000 delegates.Part of the success in winning the conference business has been attributed to GCMB's Ambassador Programme, an influential network of around 2500 members drawn from the city's academic, scientific, medical and business communities who help persuade their own industries and associations to host conferences in Glasgow. More than one-third of all conference business booked by GCMB in 2011-12 has been put down to the ambassadors.The figures were released as GCMB was named the UK's Best Convention Bureau for a sixth consecutive year, while the SECC picked up the Best UK Conference Centre title. It also comes as a Government delegation from Taiwan visits the city to examine GCMB's approach to bidding for and winning conventions business.In July, the city hosts the International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport, bringing 3000 delegates to the SECC and generating more than £5m. Coinciding with the city's role in the 2012 Olympics and its hosting of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the conference will focus on legacies from sporting events.

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Conferences give Glasgow £120m boost

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