GLASGOW IS THE UK'S INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CAPITAL
Glasgow was the UK’s international conference capital last year, attracting more international delegates than any other British city, according to official figures.
The city was ranked 33rd in the world with 20.070 people attending international association meetings, the figures from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) show.
The report estimated that all other British cities, including London, held international association meetings which were attended by less than 20,000 delegates.
Glasgow has worked extremely hard at winning big international association conferences, which are an important part of the city’s economy.
Scott Taylor, Chief Executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: “We have a deliberate strategy of targeting the large international meetings with high numbers of delegates that deliver real economic value for the city and I am delighted that it is proving to be successful.”
The four biggest international conferences held in Glasgow last year – World Congress on Pain, the International Confederation of Midwives, the International Astronautical Congress and the European Sleep Research Society - all attracted record numbers of delegates and were worth a total of more than £26 million to the Glasgow economy.
Almost 6,000 people attended the World Congress on Pain held at the Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre (SECC). The International Confederation of Midwives attracted 3,650, while more than 2,100 delegates came to the International Astronautical Congress, and in excess of 1,400 went to the European Sleep Research Society conference. These conferences were all held at the SECC.
Ben Goedegebuure, Director of Sales at the SECC, said: “The SECC has a natural affinity with these large meetings and the latest ICCA rankings certainly support this. The success of the city is based on its wealth of specialist vocations that large associations can tap into to both boost membership and add relevance to their meeting. This is an important trend and one that Glasgow is clearly leading on.”
Martin Sirk, CEO of ICCA, said the world was going through “revolutionary times” due to global financial turmoil and the new information age, and that international associations are major players in the creation, development and dissemination of knowledge.
“Association meetings are going to become even more important: for scientific and medical progress; to find solutions to societal and environmental challenges; to provide top level elite education; as tools for national and regional economic development; to share ideas on quality control, accreditation and new ways of learning,” said Sirk.
Berlin attracted the highest number of participants of any city in the world (106,171), followed by Barcelona (81,933), Paris (73,872) and Vienna (69,573). Glasgow was just pipped into 33rd place by Rio (21,589), Shanghai (21,153), and Sydney (20,290). Neither London nor Edinburgh made the top 33.
The research found that on average, international delegates spend £421 per day, including registration fees. There are estimated to be 15,000 association meetings held on a regular basis. ICCA has almost 80% of them on its database and estimated they are worth almost £7.3 billion each year.
Ends
Issued by and for further information:
Nancy McLardie, Head of Public Relations
Tel: +44 (0) 141 566 0830
Fax: +44 (0) 141 566 0855
Email nancy.mclardie@seeglasgow.com
Tel: +44 (0) 141 566 0830
Fax: +44 (0) 141 566 0855
Email nancy.mclardie@seeglasgow.com
Notes to editors:
1. For a copy of the ICCA report, go to www.ICCAworld.com
2. In 2008/09, conference sales booked through Glasgow City Marketing Bureau were £131 million, the equivalent of 494,150 delegate days.
Aug 2009