Edinburgh celebrates ‘most succesful year’

Convention Edinburgh, the business tourism arm of the city’s official marketing agency, Marketing Edinburgh, has reported its most successful year to date, securing new conferences and events worth £94.3 million to the local economy, it said.

Representing a £2.8 million increase on last year, 206 future conferences, set to attract 74,400 thousand delegates, have been won by Convention Edinburgh and its members over the last 12 months.   

High profile conferences secured include the Rehabilitation International Congress, in October 2016, PIBD 2021 and June’s International Cricket Council Conference 2016.  

John Donnelly, chief executive of Marketing Edinburgh, said: "This is great news for the city of Edinburgh and testament to the hard work of everyone involved. 2015/16 was a crucial year in Convention Edinburgh’s ongoing strategic development, not only in terms of bid win success, but positive client response.  

"While attracting global international associations remains a priority, particularly through our work with BestCities Global Alliance, we continue to invest in developing Edinburgh’s unique value proposition to a whole range of audiences, particularly in North America and Europe."

Lesley Williams, head of business tourism at Convention Edinburgh, said: "With conference and delegate numbers strengthening year on year, there is a huge amount of potential future growth in the city.  As a destination bureau, Convention Edinburgh’s role is evolving.

"While supporting our clients in sourcing venues and accommodation remain important, increasingly we are playing a wider part in helping to shape conferences and build relevant connections for our clients. This is particularly true in emerging areas such as legacy development.

"There is a growing ambition with meeting organisers to leave a lasting legacy within a host city, creating wider benefits that can continue to grow and outlive their event.  As the conduit between local businesses, charities, academia and government, Convention Edinburgh is ideally placed to work with the client to help develop their legacy ambitions and bring about positive change."  

Currently ranked 35 in the world’s city rankings according to the International Congress and Convention Association and 20^th in Europe, Edinburgh annually holds more international meetings than any other UK city outside of London.