Dear chuckyegg-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
Apparently, Scotland has become QUITE popular as a conference
destination and its popularity seems to be growing annually by leaps
and bounds. According to the UNION OF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS (a
non-profit clearing house for information on over 40,000 international
organizations and constituencies) in Brussels, “Glasgow is now
Europe’s fastest growing conference destination. This remarkable
achievement has been further reinforced by the news that the
Convention Bureau of Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Tourist Board -
working in conjunction with industry partners and members of its
Conference Ambassadors Programme – has been successful in securing
£66million in conference sales for the destination during 2002/2003.
In the last five years Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Tourist Board
has increased its annual conventions sales by more than 300%, from
£15.3 million in 1997/’98 to £66 million in 2002/03.”
GREATER GLASGOW & CLYDE VALLEY TOURIST BOARD
http://www.seeglasgow.com/MediaOffice/NewsReleases/NRconfex.asp
To be more accurate, the tourist board reported annual convention
sales up to March 2003 at a record £72.7 million which is a 42%
increase on sales in all of 2002 a 375% increase on convention sales
of the entire year of 1997.
This statistical report can give you a much better overview of
convention sales and the huge increase in accommodation stocks, retail
sales, airports etc that seem to have at least partly enabled it:
VALUE AND VOLUME OF TOURISM
http://www.seeglasgow.com/MediaOffice/FactsFigs/valuevolume.asp?lang=1
Edinburgh, which is the only city in the UK to make it into the
prestigious International Convention and Conference Association (ICCA)
“Top 10”, is also a highly successful, world-class convention
destination. The Scottish Convention Bureau reports that not only are
there major expansion plans being developed to accommodate the
increasing demand at both the Edinburgh International Conference
Centre and Aberdeen Conference Centre, but that travel incentives are
also frequently being offered to entice individuals and organizations
to consider Scotland on their conference and convention itineraries.
If you don’t get a chance to look at every link I have provided for
you here, be sure you DO NOT miss this very current one. It is a very
good article about how well Scotland is doing in the conference and
convention business and it provides an excellent explanation as to
why:
CONFERENCE AND INCENTIVE TRAVEL
http://www.citmagazine.com/Features_story.cfm?ID=222
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
GREATER GLASGOW & CLYDE VALLEY TOURIST BOARD
http://www.seeglasgow.com/
SCOTTISH CONVENTION BUREAU
http://www.conventionscotland.com/about_f.htm
Scottish Convention Bureau
23 Ravelston Terrace
Edinburgh EH4 3TP
Tel: +44 131 343 1608
Fax: +44 131 343 1844
EMAIL: john.cardie@visitscotland.com
CONVENTION SCOTLAND
http://www.conventionscotland.com/
BBT ONLINE
http://www.bbt.be/Library/destinations/destinations1002.htm
THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND CONVENTION BUREAU
http://www.highlandexchange.net/pyb/bureau.htm
CONFERENCE AND INCENTIVE TRAVEL
http://www.citmagazine.com/Features_story.cfm?ID=222
EDINBURGH CONVENTION BUREAU
http://www.edinburgh.org/conference/gettingto-edinburgh.html
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
Convention
Conference
Used alternatively in conjunction with the search terms “SCOTLAND”,
“GLASGOW”, “ABERDEEN”, “EDINBURGH” “BUREAU” and “TOURISM STATISTICS” |
