Ranking. Edinburgh has been placed first in a value-for-money study of world ranked international conference destination cities.   Scotland’s capital city was rated best in the review undertaken for Visit Britain which included ten cities all ranked within the top 100 conference destinations by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).

Sue Stuart, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Convention Bureau (ECB), commented: “At a time when costs are a key factor in the decisions taken by associations about where to hold their events it’s important for a destination to be seen to be providing value for money. Edinburgh has always been recognised as one of the world’s leading conference destinations and these latest findings reinforce our reputation and add to the city’s attractiveness in the current economic climate. The review’s results give us another important edge in a very competitive market place.”

The findings of the cost comparison survey were based on staging an association meeting for up to 1500 delegates, with associated exhibition space, catering, an internet café, accommodation for 1300 people and a venue for a gala dinner for 1000. Edinburgh, currently 28th in the ICCA rankings, produced a cost of £624,558 (692,000 euros) which was £25,000 (27,000 euros) less than its nearest competitor Brussels, 22nd in the ICCA league. Glasgow, with a cost of £705,052  (781,000 euros) was placed third in the Visit Britain review.

The other cities included in the review (ICCA ranking), were: Paris (1=); Vienna (1=); Barcelona (3); Singapore (4); Hong Kong (21); Geneva (33); New York (100).   The ECB also revealed that in the past month between 9 October and 10 November 23 new events were confirmed for the city. They will attract up to 4652 delegates to the city and inject £5.1million (5,56m euros) into the local economy. These latest figures mean that Edinburgh has won conferences worth £51.2 million (57m euros) since the start of the current financial year. www.conventionedinburgh.com