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Glasgow Lands £148 million of Conference Business
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB) booked an impressive £147,989,426 of new conference business in 2006-07 - more than double the value of the previous year.
Part of the reason for the massive increase is that VisitBritain has revised the official way of calculating the value of conferences after research showed delegates spend far more money on items such as shopping, accommodation, food and drink than had previously been thought. (see note 1)
But even using ‘like for like’ figures, GCMB scored a healthy 8% increase in the value of conferences booked from £65.7 million in 2005-06 to £71.1 million in 2006-07. This is a 14.5% increase in the number of delegate days to 488,634.
The Glasgow: Scotland with style campaign run by GCMB has been a major factor in the city’s success, helping drive 360,000 extra visitors since it was launched three years ago, generating an additional £41.7 million for the local economy.
One in five hotel beds in the city is now occupied by a conference delegate, underscoring the importance of conventions to Glasgow’s economy.
Research from VisitBritain last year revealed that business delegates contributed £75 billion to the UK economy. The study found international association delegates spend an average of £364 per day (the previous calculation was £210 per day) and UK association delegates spend £461 (formerly calculated at £142).
Councillor Alex Mosson, Chairman of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: “These figures only serve to reinforce that Glasgow’s strategy to invest heavily in attracting conventions to the city has been the right one.
“The competitive pressures that Glasgow faces have never been more fierce. New centres are opening in Dublin and Liverpool focussing on capturing Glasgow’s business, which means that as a city we need to work harder at keeping our customers, and innovating to grow our market share.
“There is no room for complacency, otherwise we will see our hotel occupancy slip and our competitors increasing in strength.”
Molly Doheny, head of the Convention Bureau at GCMB, said: “These excellent figures are the result of the city pulling together as one team. I’d like to thank all our partners across the city – especially Greater Glasgow Hotels Association and the Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre (SECC) - for their hard work in maintaining Glasgow’s position as one of Europe’s premier conference destinations.”
Glasgow’s hotel sector is booming, with record occupancy levels. Occupancy rates for March were 78% - up 9% for the same period in 2006. Occupancy rates for the financial year to March 31 are 75.3% - up from 72.7% the previous year. One key performance indicator set for the Glasgow: Scotland with style brand was to increase occupancy levels by 2% per year, so the campaign has exceeded its target this year.
Among the major conferences booked for Glasgow in 2006-07 were:
- European Immunology Congress, September 2012, 5,000 delegates, economic value £12.7 million
- European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology, September 2011, 2,500 delegates, economic value £2.6 million.
- British Society for Gastroenterology, March 2007, 2,000 delegates, economic value £2.7 million.
- British Transplantation Society, April 2008, 600 delegates, economic value £1.1 million
- British Dental Association, June 2009, 3,000 delegates, economic value £4.15 million.
ENDS 19 April 2007
Notes to editors:
1. To read the VisitBritain survey on delegate spending, click: http://www.tourismtrade.org.uk/Images/11816%20BTU%20Delegate%20PDF%20AW_tcm12-29500.pdf
For further information:
Moira Dyer, Senior Manager – Public Relations
Moira Dyer, Senior Manager – Public Relations
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau
Tel: +44 (0) 141 566 0831
Tel: +44 (0) 141 566 0831