September proved to be the busiest month of the year to-date for conferencing in Newcastle and Gateshead as they welcomed more than 3,000 delegates from 16 events, with an estimated economic impact of over £3.3m.
The Faraday Institution held their annual conference in Newcastle for the first time, bringing 500 delegates from as far as Fiji to the city.
Both Newcastle University and Northumbria University continue to attract a high volume of conferences. They recently held the Royal College of Nursing’s International Nursing Research Conference.
Caroline Reed, senior manager for business events at NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said: “It’s been an absolute delight to work with so many brilliant conference organisers and bring more than three thousand delegates to Newcastle and Gateshead.”
“There was a real buzz about the city throughout the month with delegates experiencing our world-famous, warm Geordie welcome.”
NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau assisted with more than 1,600 bed nights for the city’s hotels thanks to an uptick in overnight delegate stays – an increase of 188% compared to the same month last year.
With business events delegates often spending more than the average visitor and conferences boosting mid-week hotel occupancy, the industry is of huge importance to the region’s visitor economy growth.
Sarah Green, chief executive of NewcastleGateshead Initiative said the development of the area’s business events offering “is at the core of our ambitious goal of doubling the value of the visitor economy over the next 10 years as part of our regional Destination Development Partnership – Destination North-East England.”
