Destination Bristol has relaunched its convention bureau, now promoting the city region for conferences, meetings and incentive travel as ‘Meet Bristol’. In 2017, the team managed enquiries about potential business worth more than £2.3 million and were responsible for confirming more than £830,000 of business related events that took place during the year. From Meetpie.com…
Informa, the events and business information group, is to pay a huge £4.5 billion for rival exhibitions organiser UBM. The amount, that will include debt, has divided investors who have questioned the decision to pay what amounts to the full price. Informa CEO Stephen Carter claimed there would be “significant” synergies to justify the deal. From Meetpie.com…
Friends and family of Paul Flackett gathered at London’s Queen Elizabeth II Centre to bid farewell to the former MD of IMEX. Colleagues shared memories of the 69 year-old, who died in November, and SoolNua’s Padraic Gilligan even wrote a song for the occasion, performing it with Spectra’s Paul Miller and ExCeL’s James Rees. From Meetpie.com…
Kensington Roof Gardens has closed after 37 years due to rising costs. The party venue’s operator, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, said it was struggling to make a profit at the Grade II listed site, an iconic favourite for London event organisers. 85 staff are being made redundant, and booking deposits are being refunded. Photo: Edwardx. From Meetpie.com…
ACC Liverpool says its events will proceed as planned following a fire which gutted its car park. Fire broke out on New Year’s Eve in the facility, which is adjacent to the BT Convention Centre, Echo Arena, Exhibition Centre Liverpool and the Pullman Liverpool hotel. 1,300 vehicles were destroyed in the blaze. Photo: Merseyside Fire and Rescue. From Meetpie.com…
Event organisers ignore contingency planning at their peril. In March 2017 Ernst & Young’s Future Finance Leaders Spring Seminar had to cope with the ultimate nightmare: postponement at less than 24 hours’ notice after the terror attack on Westminster Bridge in London. The team’s handling of the logistics went on to win an award. From PCMA Convene…
London Tech Week is a festival of live events taking place once a year across the United Kingdom capital. Having been held now for four years, it has become a key gathering for the ICT industry in London. It connects the entire tech ecosystem both within the city and beyond, shapes the future of the…
City Fair is a one day event of pre-scheduled appointments dedicated to the lucrative and growing sector of city tourism organised by ETOA and ECM. City Fair gives European destination suppliers the opportunity to meet selected travel buyers in a productive business environment. One-day B2B event of up to 32 pre-arranged one-to-one meetings. Unique format of targeted business workshop with marketing opportunities
Sheffield’s conference ambassador programme has celebrated its 10th anniversary at the annual dinner given for advocates who bring larger business events into the city. The city’s conference market is estimated to be worth £113 million to the local economy and the ambassador programme itself has contributed close to £30 million over the last six years. From Association Meetings International…
To spread the benefits of business and leisure tourism across the city’s diverse neighbourhoods, London & Partners will be showcasing such localities in 2018 European hosted buyer trips. Attendees will discover the city around themes, like medical meetings or technology. Peckham, with its striking library, is to feature. Photo: C. G. P. Grey. From Meetpie.com…
As the US’s global image as a destination for business travel appears damaged under current politics, so does that of London thanks to Brexit. The Top 100 City Destination Ranking WTM London Edition, by Euromonitor International, claims the UK capital is now under pressure. Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin, Stockholm, Dublin and Amsterdam may stand to gain. From Meetpie.com…
This training is full of demonstrations of the latest technological tools to get the most out this day of intensive learning. The technologies addressed are: Digital Content Management; Mobile Apps; The basics of hybrid meetings and the latest innovation; Co-creation; Participant involvement: how to make it really work. Discover practical techniques, formats, processes and tools that you can easily…
The world’s biggest gathering of heart specialists, the European Society of Cardiology Congress, is returning to London in 2021. The decision is being seen as a post-Brexit vote of confidence and an endorsement of the city’s standing in the field. In 2015 ESC brought £100m of economic benefit and 32,700 delegates into London. From Association Meetings International…
In preparing an upcoming feature on Birmingham in the UK, an Iceberg partner has rediscovered a destination marketing masterpiece also well known to the Iceberg team, which itself has reported from the city. It’s a vintage promo gem narrated by TV’s Kojak… Telly Savalas. Birmingham: who loves ya, baby? From editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…
The ill-fated speech of British Prime Minister Theresa May may have won the main headline (see Opinions), but the recent Conservative Party Conference is believed to have boosted Manchester’s economy by £30 million. In 2015 business tourism brought in £810 million to Greater Manchester. Business events are estimated directly to support 21,900 local jobs. From Meetpie.com…
London’s events industry is facing – and could well be affected by – the “uncertain climate” created by Brexit. The warning comes from Tracy Halliwell, head of business at the city’s promotion agency London & Partners. The organisation launched a “London is Open” campaign last year shortly after the surprise referendum result. From Meetpie.com…
MPI Insights returns this Autumn for a special roundtable discussion focusing on mergers and acquisitions within the events industry. The flurry of mergers and acquisitions activity in the events sector is in contrast to the caution seen in the wider business community. Consolidation is a ubiquitous part of the business landscape, but recent months have seen…
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for more off-season business events to be held in the UK capital. A London & Partners report “A Tourism Vision for London” suggests investing in promoting the city to new and off-peak visitors, and in building new amenities and infrastructure, especially aimed at business visitors. From Association Meetings International…
Destination Bristol says the city’s conference and events industry has made its highest economic impact yet, more than £259 million last year. More events have been held in Bristol – with longer stays at higher rates – and more of Bristol’s own businesses are holding events locally. The last record was of £202m in 2015. From Meetpie.com…
Manchester Central is now celebrating ten years since becoming an exhibition and conference centre. The venue’s new CEO Shaun Hinds has clear views on its next decade, in terms of industry disruption, the evolution of meetings and events, extending the conference experience beyond the event itself, and in the use of technology. From the editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…
According to the Incentive Research Foundation’s 2016 Event Disruption study, 59% of planners in 2015 and 2016 and had to deal with outside disturbances to their meeting itineraries. One brave Iceberg partner journalist signed up to sample a unique dinner-in-the-sky experience in London. Sadly sometimes even a suspended event has to be… erm… suspended. From the editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…
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