British cities bolstered by venue investment
According to the recent rankings published by ICCA, Britain currently sits third for the total number of international association events hosted, as well as the total number of visiting delegates.
Some 21 UK cities feature in these rankings, each with their own array of venues, hotels and infra-structure, designed to stage seamless event experiences for global audiences.
Scottish cities, which feature in the global ICCA rankings include Edinburgh (27th), Glasgow (50th) and Aberdeen and St Andrews (joint 357th).
Aberdeen’s aspiration is to climb the rankings with the construction of a £333million multi-purpose convention centre, opening in 2019.
The Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre will offer a 10,000-seat arena, 48,000sqm of flexible space, banqueting for 2,000, three on-site hotels with a total of 500 bedrooms and all within a five minute drive of Aberdeen International Airport.
Wales will also see its International Convention Centre open in 2019, offering 26,000sqm of events space for up to 5,000 delegates.
Facilities at the
Celtic Manor site will include a double-height 1,500-seat tiered auditorium, a 4,000sqm exhibition hall, 12 meeting rooms and an outdoor plaza.
Welsh ranked cities for international congresses include Cardiff (239th), with attractions such as
Cardiff Castle and the world-renowned
Principality Stadium, home of Welsh rugby.
Cardiff’s Coal Exchange, once the centre of the world’s shipping industry and where the first £1million cheque was signed in 1904, has today been transformed into the luxury Exchange Hotel, which began its phased opening in May 2017. The 200-room £40million hotel will be fully open by January 2018 and features a grand hall for 400, function rooms and a spa.
Signature Living, the developer of the Exchange Hotel operates four hotels in Liverpool including the 83-bedroom
Shankly Hotel.
Liverpool’s 11,000-seat
Echo Arena, the Exhibition Centre Liverpool and the
BT Convention Centre have all helped the city appear in 144th place on the ICCA rankings. Around 28,000 delegates are set to attend medical events at the venues during 2017.
Sandra Eyre, senior association sales manager at ACC Liverpool, said:
“The medical and healthcare sector remains very strong for us and accounts for 61 per cent of association events in 2017-18. This is largely thanks to our experience in hosting such events, the city’s expertise in helping to bring them to Liverpool and the city’s continuous appeal as a global meetings destination.”
Elsewhere in Britain, the newly extended Belfast Waterfront has attracted over 50,000 delegate nights, generating an economic return of £21million for the city since its opening in April last year.
Whilst in Manchester, the city’s
Manchester Central conference centre welcomed in excess of 20,000 delegates to more than 50 corporate events last year and has secured multi-year deals with four major national associations.
The British Dental Association (BDA) has confirmed it will return to Manchester Central for the next three years. The Pension and Lifetime Savings Association and the Royal Microscopical Socie-ty have also committed to bring their events to Manchester Central bi-annually until 2023 and 2021 respectively. Plus, The British Cardiovascular Society has also chosen Manchester Central to host its annual conference and exhibition until 2023.
VisitBritain’s Business Events manager, Fiona Macdonald says: “
It’s not hard to understand Brit-ain’s strong appeal on the global events stage, especially with such ambition and investment shown across cities, hotel groups and the venues themselves. It’s a great time to be planning an event in Britain.”
Article written by
Mike Fletcher