International Convention Centre Wales (ICC Wales), which opened in September 2019 in Newport, South Wales, has announced its busiest month for new enquiries and confirmed business since opening, following the reopening of the business events sector in the UK.

During August, Wales’ first purpose-built conference venue received 42 new enquiries worth a potential £1.4million and confirmed 29 events worth £1.53m making it a record-breaking month for the ICC Wales team.

According to ICC Wales, the 29 confirmed events will bring an anticipated 27,000 attendees to the region, with an estimated economic benefit to the local area of more than £22m. Combined with the new enquiries, they represent more than 45,000 delegates with a potential economic benefit to the region in excess of £40 million.

ICC Wales Commercial Director Jill Manley said: “August would normally be a quiet holiday month, but these fantastic business figures prove there is a real appetite to return to events, which we also saw reflected in our recent ICC Wales and Celtic Collection sentiment survey.

The 5,000-capacity ICC Wales is located within the grounds of the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, South Wales. The new venue launched in September 2019 and pandemic restrictions forced it to close its doors for 17 months before reopening in August 2021. From 18th – 21st October, ICC Wales welcomes the International Golf Travel Market – the first time the global B2B event for the golf travel industry has ever been welcomed to the UK.

“People clearly want to meet up face-to-face again as soon as possible and now that we’ve been given the green light to reopen business events, much of the apprehension about booking and attending events has been removed,“ adds ICC Commercial Director Manley.