Following the summer recess, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the UK Events Industry has been formally confirmed as continuing. Core members remain the same, and say they’ll continue keeping the industry high on Parliament’s agenda. The group also attracts events to the UK. Photo: UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor. From 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…
The debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament building is one of the most extraordinary meeting spaces ever constructed. And now the Scottish Government has further recognised the importance of meetings to the country’s economic development by saluting the academic and business ambassadors helping the capital Edinburgh to attract business and professional events. Photo: Colin. From Meetpie.com…
ICC Wales – currently under construction at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport – has announced that the Alzheimer’s Research UK Conference 2020 is one of its first confirmed bookings. The two-day event will attract around 500 dementia researchers from across the UK and beyond. The £83.7 million ICC Wales will open in July 2019. 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…
Rather than controversial name and shame blacklists, here’s a rather more creative solution to the problem of discouraging the attendance of FAM trip freeloaders. Charge an appropriate token entry fee… and then donate the proceeds to industry charity Meeting Needs. Some clever thinking at Cliveden House in Berkshire, United Kingdom, from the editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…
Three quarters of event planners will not return to a venue if they receive bad service, according to a survey by the Victory Services Club. 84 percent think quality of service is one of the most important aspects of the overall experience. 61 percent base their booking decision on first contact and staff attitude. From Meetpie.com…
Cross-pollination is a great wonder of biology. At the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre next month major bio conferences have co-located to benefit from the interactions that occur across disciplines. Natural product biotechnology conference ICNPB takes place immediately ahead of the three-day joint ICMAN / IUPHAR meeting (nutraceuticals / natural products). From Association Meetings International…
Businesses in the UK’s Midlands are being invited to join a series of focus groups to raise awareness of mental health issues in the meetings industry. The discussions are part of a campaign run by the Meetings Industry Association, and will help event professionals understand how their colleague’s organisations are building compassionate and productive workplaces. From Meetpie.com…
The UK meetings and events industry is heavily dependent on foreign labour. The effect of Brexit on its ability to recruit remains a unknown quantity. Even before the surprise referendum result, possibly the country’s biggest independent conference group, Principal Hotel Company, created a training academy which is now attracting local talent. From the editor’s blog at Meetpie.com…
The rebranded Glasgow Convention Bureau won 526 conferences between 2016 and 2017, which will bring in an estimated £142m to the city’s economy. The conferences will take place up to 2022 and attract 140,000 business tourists. The number of international associations choosing Glasgow has also risen, with 2016 / 2017 the most successful year yet. From Meetpie.com…
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…
The Royal College of Physicians meetings and events AV team is helping create a community legacy in London by assisting a knife crime awareness project. The scheme is creating a sculpture out of knives that have been surrendered to the police and decommissioned, and the AV team is filming a documentary about the project. From Meetpie.com…
The UK’s business travel spend in 2016 rose almost 7 percent to £39 billion, according to the Global Business Travel Association Foundation. China had the largest market, growing 9.2 percent to $318 billion (£245 billion), and India the strongest market growth, of 11.4 percent to $33 billion (£25 billion). Global spend was $1.3 trillion (£1 trillion). From Meetpie.com…
The second quarter of 2017 saw the 15th consecutive rise of events budgets in the UK, according to the Q2 IPA Bellwether Report. But the average increase itself is falling. Digital marketing is a new trend – with its demonstrable return on investment – as is increasing uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the UK General Election result. From Meetpie.com…
The UK city of Nottingham is launching an ambassador programme to attract £5 million of research-led academic events from 2018. The scheme – run by Visit Nottinghamshire, part of Marketing NG, and the Nottingham Hospitality Association (NHA) – is intended in time to create a network of 200 ambassadors bringing in significant events to the city. From Association Meetings International…
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