Make It Edinburgh, a campaign which showcases the city’s sectors in the business tourism industry, has announced that it will host events and conferences for a number of health organisations this autumn.
In 2018-2019, the business tourism team at Marketing Edinburgh supported 37 health conferences. This attracted 18,321 delegates to the city, which accounts for almost half (44%) of business tourism revenue generated over that period of time.
Some of the conferences scheduled for the remainder of 2019 include: International Conference on Law Enforcement and Public Health, Compassionate Mind Foundation’s International Conference and World Extreme Medicine.
The collaboration across Marketing Edinburgh, VisitScotland Business Events, the Scottish Government, the University of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, will deliver an estimated £3.3m for the local economy and presents an opportunity for industry experts from across the globe to collaborate and share knowledge.
Amanda Ferguson, head of business tourism at Marketing Edinburgh said: “It’s the aim of the business events campaign, ‘Make It Edinburgh’, to showcase the Scottish capital’s centres of excellence, our life sciences sector being one of these.
“With esteemed and influential events such as World One Health Congress choosing Edinburgh as a host city, there is an opportunity to not only showcase and share our expertise, but to allow the sector to grow and flourish. Greater expertise and entrepreneurship in health and life sciences ultimately attracts more talent and investment, delivering economic growth through innovation.”
Dr Neil Anderson from the University of Edinburgh, said: “We are thrilled to host the Sixth World One Health Congress in Edinburgh in 2020, welcoming international health scientists and professionals, opinion leaders and policy makers from the One Health community to Scotland’s capital. As a global facing university, we have vibrant One Health and global health partnerships nationally and internationally, and we look forward to showcasing the world of Scotland’s world-leading collective of research institutes and engaging with other stakeholders to improve the health of people, animals and the environment.”
Examples of Edinburgh’s conferences in life sciences include:
- Edinburgh BioQuarter enables testing of immunotherapy to improve the quality of life of cancer patients undergoing treatment.
- Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies’ research suggests a combination of antibiotics and a drug used to treat kidney infections could effectively treat superbugs such as MRSA and limit the impact of antibiotic resistance.
- The Roslin Innovation Centre’s study aims to see Parkinson’s patients benefit from insights gleaned by studies of tropical zebrafish.
