Scottland. New figures released by the Edinburgh Convention Bureau (ECB) reveal that events worth 5.8 m euros have been secured for Scotland’s capital city. A total of ten new events scheduled to take place between January 2010 and November 2011 have been confirmed. The bookings taken between 11 November and 9 December involve international and national associations, corporate and government conferences.
The new events will bring up to 4700 business tourism delegates to the city. The largest event which underlines Edinburgh reputation as a medical centre of excellence is the International Congress of the European Hernia Society. The event will be staged over three days at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) in November 2011. It is anticipated the meeting will be attended by 1500 delegates and be worth 1,8 m euros to the local economy.
The Society was formed 20 years ago by a group of surgeons, intensive care specialists, anatomists, radiologists and physiologists with the aim of promoting abdominal wall surgery. Another of the new events worth in excess of £1m to the city is the 2011 Women Walking with God conference with 1,200 delegates which will also be hosted by the EICC.
Sue Stuart, Chief Executive of ECB, commented: “It is very pleasing to be able to end the year on a high note. The past twelve months have been challenging but we have risen to challenge helping deliver significant economic benefit for the city. As 2009 draws to a close I can confirm that we are on track to meet our target of achieving economic value of 82.4 m euros for the city. We also saw our world ranking as a global destination improve this year to 28th position from 36th which was very gratifying.” These latest event confirmations mean that Edinburgh has won conferences worth 62.9 m euros since the start of the current financial year.
