Meeting planners convene in Scotland to discuss business tourism

Influential conference and meetings organisers came together yesterday (19/12) to discuss the country’s £1bn business tourism sector in the first conference of its kind to be held in Scotland.
 
Developed by VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise, in conjunction with an industry steering group, the event was hosted by the Glasgow Science Centre. Speakers included Bob Wendover of the Professional Conference Management Association (PCMA) and Corbin Ball, recently voted in the top 25 of the most influential people in the meetings industry.
 
Fergus Ewing, Scotland’s Tourism Minister, said: “Business tourism is crucial to the Scottish economy and contributes significantly to its growth. We’re in a strong position and more than able to compete on the global stage when it comes to attracting major conferences to these shores, which in turn strengthens Scotland’s credentials as a place to invest, study, live, work and visit.
 
“New developments such as the Conference Bid Fund, a £2m national bid fund aimed at attracting more business tourism to Scotland over the next three years, have leveled the playing field, now more than ever is the time for the business tourism industry to realise the full potential we have at our disposal and drive this area of our economy forward.”
 
Neil Brownlee, Head of VisitScotland’s Business Tourism Unit, said: “This was an excellent opportunity to bring together the business tourism industry to hear from some of the most renowned speakers in the field and to ultimately allow businesses to flourish and support not only their business bottom line but also the Scottish economy.
 
“VisitScotland’s role within business tourism is to create the business ripple effect, growing the Scottish economy beyond tourism through attracting business events and making connections across the wider business community which are well beyond tourism. Events like this help to put us firmly on the front foot and deliver these goals.”
 
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