Member Article

Convention Bureau is big business in 2006

Conference and accommodation business placed by NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau in the region’s hotels and venues has totalled £1.6m this year. This boost to the region’s economy has come not just from major conferences but also from a wide range of smaller events at the North East’s venues.

Major events staged during this period include the highly successful Soroptimists Federation Conference, UNISON Health Care Conference, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers Annual Conference, the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland and the European Conference on Silicon Carbide and Related Materials.

Anthony Sargent, General Director at The Sage Gateshead, said: “We’ve been delighted to see our core music programming enjoying fast-growing support from the proceeds of our burgeoning conferencing and events business. As the largest conferencing venue in NewcastleGateshead we have been delighted to welcome so many of the biggest events held in the region this year.”

Julie Diggles, Director of Sales and Marketing at greystreethotel, said: “We may not be the largest venue in NewcastleGateshead but we have welcomed many delegates attending all kinds of events since we opened a couple of years ago. Business placed with us by the Convention Bureau has proved incredibly important to us.”

Andrew Dixon, Chief Executive of NGI, which includes the Convention Bureau, said: “We believe that our marketing of NewcastleGateshead as one of Europe’s most exciting conference destinations has had an undeniable impact on NewcastleGateshead’s business tourism industry and has been responsible for influencing many conference organisers to consider NewcastleGateshead as a major meetings destination.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .