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…
While the meetings industry usually clusters around big cities, the New South Wales Government in Australia has just announced a new conferencing strategy to drive more business events to rural and regional destinations. The AU$6 million plan was launched in Tamworth, one of the smaller cities to benefit from the shift in thinking. From Association Meetings International…
The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) has persuaded several local businesses to form an alliance to promote the city’s meetings and business events sector. KLCC managers have also called again for the city to have its own convention bureau. Enquiries are currently dealt with nationally through the Malaysian Convention and Events Bureau. From Association Meetings International…
Opening the new Lake Nyasa exhibition hall, the tourism minister of Tanzania, Jumanne Abdallah Maghembe, has challenged the Arusha International Conference Centre to fully exploit the potential of conferences which he said generated $670m for the country last year. Tanzania has also announced a $156m World Bank financing plan to boost tourism by upgrading roads. From the Event…
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…
Meet in Ireland has announced new services and subvention – and a new strategy – for business events visiting its shores. The Corporate Supports Programme offers customised assistance – financial subvention included – and facilitates access for organisers to Ireland’s key knowledge sectors. Incentives can even explore film locations and sets seen in Game of Thrones and Star Wars. 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…
New figures on what the visible tip of the iceberg contributes to US GDP have been published by the Global Business Travel Association Foundation. In 2016 each percentage point of business travel spend represented 74,000 jobs, $3.3 billion in wages and $1.3 billion in taxes. Last year businesses spent $424 billion on 514.4 million domestic trips. From Meetings & Conventions…
At Meetings Africa 2017, South Africa announced a bidding fund to target and win international association conferences and meetings. But subvention can be a mistake if not clearly linked to encouraging growth in key knowledge sectors. A special Event video report – produced in partnership with The Iceberg – explores the role the meetings industry will play in African economic development.
The Cairns Convention Centre – which has twice been named “World’s Best Congress Centre” at the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) APEX Awards – is to receive AU$176m to fund an expansion that will make it a “state-of-the-art international venue”, according to Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt. He called the government money a “catalytic investment”. From CIM News Magazine…
A new conference centre in the UK seaside resort town of Blackpool will be using local suppliers and subcontractors in a bid to support the region’s economy. Work on the £25m project will start later this year, and local construction companies have already been invited to an open day to find out more. From Meetpie.com…
San Diego may be stalling, but the $1.4 billion expansion and renovation of the Las Vegas Convention Center has just been given the final go-ahead. After state legislators and Governor Brian Sandoval approved the project last year, the board of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has also now given it a green light. From Meetings & Conventions…
San Diego City Council has rejected the call for a special vote this November to increase hotel tax. The revenue generated was to have funded – amongst other things – the previously endorsed expansion of the San Diego Convention Center. The move puts the project on hold, despite the Council acknowledging the economic impact events generate. From Meetings & Conventions…
The Geneva Convention Bureau has adopted a policy of promoting Geneva not only as a destination but also as a center of economic, knowledge and innovation excellence. It does this by marketing meetings and events in relation to local key clusters of industry. As a result, a dynamic and virtuous feedback loop is established between Geneva’s economic or knowledge…
This research by Business Events Sydney (BESydney) demonstrates that business events offer delegates unrestricted exposure to innovative ideas and opportunities to develop new knowledge and skills. Part of the Beyond Tourism Benefits series, the new study by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) – Conferences: Catalysts for Thriving Economies – provides further evidence showing that…
The meetings and conventions industry is evolving into a global innovation distribution channel. Over the last decade, convention bureaus have been collaborating more strategically with their local and state governments, economic development agencies, academic and scienti c institutions, and local business improvement districts to better leverage the value of conventions in their cities, especially those aligned…
Vilnius, capital of the Republic of Lithuania in Northern Europe, was the host for CONVENE earlier this year and has long been a leading events destination in the region. Now the new Go Vilnius agency will link up the city’s marketing with its more strategic economic goals of attracting investment and talent. From tmf dialogue marketing…
Did any of the G20 financial ministers and central bank directors know they were sitting on an old gold-miners’ staging post when they met in the seaside city of Cairns? By Rob Spalding at Associated Meetings International… G20 Finance Summit in Cairns – Following in Their Footsteps
It is widely known that New South Wales is a popular business events destination. In 2011 alone, Business Events Sydney secured 67 events, worth an estimated AU$186.5 million in economic impact. However, aside from the dollar spend impact from the thousands of delegates who visit, little research had been done on the longer term impacts…
Powered by 
