International conferences in Liverpool up

The number of international conferences being held in Liverpool has increased four-fold in the past year, according to new figures.
 
In 2011, the city hosted six such events in venues across the region compared to 26 confirmed for this year.
 
The number of international delegates increased from 2,800 last year to a total of 9,280 expected this year.
 
Liverpool has welcomed thousands of international delegates to events in 2012, including the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, which saw 3,000 attendees from 125 countries, and BBC Worldwide Showcase, where 640 international TV buyers attended the world’s largest international television market hosted by a single distributor.
 
Both events took place at ACC Liverpool, home to BT Convention Centre and Echo Arena.
 
Elsewhere in the city, the 11th International Conference on Pavement Engineering and Infrastructure was held at the Britannia Adelphi Hotel in February.
 
Recent figures released by Visit Britain estimate that 545,000 overseas visitors stayed in Liverpool in 2011, of which 19 per cent, around 101,000, attended for business. Liverpool is now the fifth most visited city in the UK by overseas guests, behind London, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham.
 
Carol O’Reilly, Liverpool Convention Bureau Manager, said: “These figures are extremely encouraging and reflect how Liverpool is increasingly earning a reputation as an international destination for high-profile conferences and events.
 
“This is thanks to a number of factors including our connectivity to Europe through our network of airports, major roads and rail travel.”
 
Kerrin MacPhie, Director of sales at ACC Liverpool, added: “We have already welcomed thousands of international delegates to ACC Liverpool this year and we are confident that this trend is set to continue.”
 
Forthcoming events at ACC Liverpool include the International Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Workshop later this month (1,200 delegates), the International Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis next month (1,500 delegates) and the International and European Associations Congress in July (400 delegates).
 
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