Member Article

Major obesity conference set to bring 400 to Newcastle United home

A three day conference on Obesity from a physiological perspective will take place at St James’ Park next year as NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau have successfully won the contract for the city.

‘Obesity – A Physiological Perspective,’ is the annual Topic Meeting for The Physiological Society and is expected to attract around 400 delegates to the destination.

Newcastle United’s St James’ Park will host the 3 day conference, September 10-12 2014, which looks to engage academics, medical professionals and the local community in the debate around obesity and the factors contributing to the UK epidemic.

The event was secured by NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau after meeting Christine Carr, the Physiological Society’s Events and marketing manager at International Confex in 2013 - the international conference for the events industry.

Paul Szomoru, head of Business Tourism at NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau, said: “We attend International Confex, as well as other meetings industry trade shows, every year and are always delighted by the quality and number of enquiries we receive as a result.

“The Physiological Society’s annual Topic Meeting for 2014 is a fantastic win for us, our reputation for world-leading research in science and healthcare makes NewcastleGateshead the ideal destination for a meeting of this kind.”

It’s expected the event will contribute more than £550k in delegate spend to the local economy.

Christine Carr, said: “It’s great that we can bring this event to the North East. The Convention Bureau, have been a fantastic source of support and a wealth of knowledge.

“I’m delighted we were able to speak to them at Confex earlier this year and start the ball rolling in planning our annual Topic Meeting on a subject that is a real concern here in the UK, where we have one of the highest rates of obesity in the developed world.

“Newcastle United is a brilliant venue for this event. We’re looking forward to delivering a range of public lectures and are also hoping to work alongside the Newcastle United Foundation, whose work with the local community encourages healthy lifestyle choices.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .