Birmingham is the most popular destination outside London for meetings, conferences and events, according to the fifth annual British Meetings and Events Industry Survey (BMEIS).
The business tourism survey provides research each year into the buying trends of more than 600 event organisers from the corporate and not-for-profit sectors in the UK.
The survey puts Birmingham ahead of Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds as the preferred UK regional events destination among industry professionals. The 2013/14 survey also revealed that access and location are the top influencing factors in selecting a destination, while city centre hotels enjoy more use than any other type of venue.
“Birmingham’s ranking as the preferred business tourism destination outside London highlights the wealth of event spaces that we offer across the region and the continued hard work of our partners to provide the best possible experiences for our visitors,” says Commercial Director of Marketing Birmingham, Ian Taylor.
“Business tourism remains crucial to the city, playing a key role in securing a record 33.8m visitors here last year. The current redevelopment of New Street Station and the expansion of the airport’s runway will only help to make the city even more connected and attractive to this valuable market,” he adds.
The survey’s findings follow the third annual Meet Birmingham Showcase in November. The two-day event, organised by the city’s official business tourism programme Meet Birmingham, provided an overview of the region’s conference offer. It brought together more than 50 regional suppliers and event buyers, who collectively place more than 20,000 events each year.
Attendees were among the first to experience the £6m redevelopment of Conference Aston, the academic conference centre and hotel based at Aston University.
“Confidence in Birmingham’s meetings, conferences and events market continues to grow,” says Marketing Manager of Conference Aston, Paul Bunce. “It has led us to refurbish our current venue and open eight new meeting rooms and five new private dining spaces.
“The BMEIS findings are a seal of approval for Birmingham’s event spaces. Coupled with the latest Meet Birmingham Showcase, they will help us to build on the city’s continued success in the business tourism sector,” he adds.
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