Meet Birmingham, the city’s official business tourism programme, welcomed 25 national buyers to its second annual Showcase event last week, impressing visitors with an overview of the region’s conferencing credentials.
Organisers from across the country, including Christchurch, York, Cambridge and London, gathered in Birmingham to take part in over 50 hours’ worth of face-to-face meetings with over 30 of Meet Birmingham’s partners, including conference centres, accommodation providers, event support suppliers and headline sponsor Chiltern Railways. There were also 15 venue show rounds, displaying the variety of facilities available in the region.
Buyers from the agency, corporate, association and not-for-profit sectors, who collectively place over 15,000 events each year, visited sporting settings including Birmingham City FC and Edgbaston Stadium, the academic venues Conference Aston and venuebirmingham and hotels including Malmaison and Marriott Forest of Arden. A number of unique destinations such as Warwick Castle and Drayton Manor Hotel were also on attendees’ itineraries, as well as one of Europe’s largest exhibition centres, The NEC.
Buyers were given an exclusive tour of Aston Villa FC and an evening meal at the club’s Restaurant VMF with Executive Chef Peter Reed explaining the story behind the eatery, which sources 80 per cent of its produce from within a 40-mile radius of the stadium. Birmingham’s Town Hall hosted a morning of pre-matched appointments on day two, while also showcasing its conferencing and entertainment offer with a lunch accompanied by musical permances.
Business tourism plays a key role in the city’s overall visitor economy of £4.9 billion. Having recently maintained its position as the top UK events destination outside London in the fourth annual British Meetings & Events Industry Survey 2012/13 (BMEIS), Birmingham’s strengths in the conferencing and events sector have once again been displayed in 2012.
