Britain has proved it can host the biggest sporting occasion in
the world, however the true success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
will be measured by the legacies they create.
For event
organisers, the challenge is to capitalise on the investments made in
improving the UK’s facilities to ensure Britain retains its position as a
leading destination for international events and conferences.
In
the run up to the Games, the UK government spent £1.06bn on developing
new venues. However, investment in facilities didn’t just come from
Parliament. According to the UK Events Market Trends Survey 2012,
one fifth of venues in Britain planned to undertake capital investment
projects of around £100,000 to improve existing facilities for the
Olympics.
Improvements were made in many areas but one that could
have a lasting effect, if exploited properly, is IT infrastructure.
Several venues invested in improving their Wi-Fi facilities, provided
high-speed broadband lines and modernised their AV and communications
systems in order to attract business during the Games. It is vital that
venues continue to invest in these areas and promote these capabilities
to continue to attract attention from event organisers in the future.
The
Olympics also resulted in a number of rooms being refreshed. IET
London: Savoy Place for example, transformed itself into the official
Olympic House for Qatar (BAYT Qatar) for 16 days during the Games. The
venue hosted 270 Qatari Olympic Committee delegates and redecorated
several rooms in a traditional Qatari style to capture the culture,
heritage and sporting achievements of the country.
Qatar used all
three of the venue’s event floors, taking advantage of the ornate
features and riverside views of London. Using themes including women in
sport, the use of technology and innovation in enhancing athletic
permance and the successful 2022 World Cup bid, the team converted
the reception area, tiered lecture theatre and all meeting rooms. All
themes and aspects of the transformation promoted the country’s
aspirations to achieve a knowledge-based economy over the next 10 years.
IET London: Savoy Place will be leaving some of these rooms decorated
as they were for the Games.
In order to maintain the interest in
the UK as a host for large-scale events, Michael Hirst, Chair of the
Business Visits & Events Partnership launched the ‘Britain for
Events’ campaign. It aims to encourage industry professionals and
government ministers to place increased emphasis and investment on
promoting venues outside of London, in areas such as Birmingham and
Glasgow. These cities are proving to be great locations to hold large
public conventions such as the Commonwealth Olympics and IWCAIS, which
are taking place at IET Birmingham: Austin Court.
The Olympics
was a good opportunity for venues, if they played their cards right. It
will be interesting to see what happens next as venues strive to
capitalise on the investments they made.
The
success the IET saw during the Olympics has enabled the organisation to
establish a wider legacy and launch a new scholarship programme, the
‘Diamond Scholarships’, which is designed to help students applying for
IET accredited courses in 2013 with their fees.
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