The UK's Expanding Event Offerings

When it comes to the meetings and events market, Britain is a country that likes to be right out in front of the crowd, and that is reflected in both its attitude towards the MICE industry and its infrastructure.

One area of business on which London is focusing its energies is the tech sector, with London's mayor strengthening ties to both Silicon Valley and Indian technology firms on the heels of a record 2017. Last year, the city attracted nearly $3.5 billion in tech investments, more than quadruple what any other city in Europe won, according to London & Partners.

Along with a broader pickup in the entire MICE sector, London is "seeing renewed and continuing interest in large-scale tech conferences and association congresses," says Joshua Novick, business development manager -- North America, at London & Partners, the city's tourism bureau. "They're coming back for a second year, which is really exciting for us," he adds, noting that the bureau is working on finalizing a 35,000-person conference to take place in the next couple of years.

"We do try to align the messaging and the industries we're proactively going after, simply because when we have the thought leaders and the expertise in those fields, it translates very easily into clients that come to us," says Novick.

He adds that the tech sector is a big one for London & Partners, with major companies like Salesforce coming to London every year as well as interest from smaller organizations "that are going global."

"As they're looking at London as their European headquarters, they're bringing with them a lot of their European developers' conferences and user conferences," says Novick. "We're seeing the connection is quite strong, so we're working quite proactively with our foreign direct investment team that is helping those companies start offices in London, and then we tag on and help them as they're looking to choose London as a destination for their events and meetings as well."

The same factors are seeing the Oxbridge Triangle of Oxford, Cambridge, and London make the city into a hub for the life sciences and medical meetings sector.

"We have a body, Med City London," Novick says. "Its purpose is to bring these life science leaders into London to promote their research and connect people within the industry."

According to Novick, that is translating into interest in medical meetings to the point that they have created London for Medical Meetings collateral to help focus on that inbound meetings and events business.

"It's not just the tech sector," says Novick. "We're capitalizing on our intellectual strengths to make London an inviting location for those industries to hold their meetings and events and congresses."

On the infrastructure side, phase one of the Elizabeth line of the Underground is on schedule to wrap construction late this year or early next, cutting the travel time from Heathrow Airport to London's largest convention center, ExCeL London, from 90 minutes to 45.

Also, Novick says, trendy, upscale, new hotels are pushing farther east, "incorporating edgier neighborhoods that have a lot of focus on design and tech start-ups and culture that the average tourist wasn't exposed to." He points to properties like the Nobu Hotel Shoreditch -- the brand's first European outpost, with 1,915 square feet of divisible event space -- and the 250-room The Ned London, a collaboration of Soho House & Co. and New York's Sydell Group, known for its burgeoning NoMad brand. It has 10 restaurants and six event spaces that can take groups of 10 to 210 attendees.

Wales
Work is progressing at the new International Convention Centre Wales, which replaces the current facility in 2019. The 280,000-square-foot venue will feature a 43,000-square-foot pillar-free ballroom, as well as a 27,000-square-foot outdoor plaza. The ICC Wales will accommodate groups of up to 5,000. Other venues in the facility include a 1,500-person auditorium, 12 flexible meeting rooms, and a double-height glass atrium.

With the building of the new ICC Wales proceeding on time and on budget, the response we've had has been amazing," says Sandra Eyre, association sales manager for ICC Wales. "There's an appetite for bringing all kinds of events to South Wales and beyond, and we have already confirmed several major events before the doors to ICC Wales have even opened."

She adds that Wales is "a burgeoning center of economic development, with many scientific, technological, and creative businesses deciding to make their home here. It all adds up to an appealing destination for event organizers from all over the world."

Located near Cardiff, the facility is set on the grounds of the five-star Celtic Manor Resort, which includes four hotels, two spas, golf, fishing, and tennis, along with a teambuilding treetop high-ropes course. Transportation options include Bristol International Airport, 40 minutes away; ICC Wales is less than two hours from London by rail or road.

"Until now, Wales simply hasn't had the capacity to accommodate large-scale global conferences, but the ICC Wales will compete with leading venues around the world," says Ian Edwards, CEO of both the Celtic Manor Resort and ICC Wales. "For the first time, [it will] position the country at the forefront of the global business visits and events scene."

The Welsh first minister, Carwyn Jones, agrees, adding, "the International Convention Centre Wales is vital to fulfilling our ambition of making Wales a leading international destination for business. A world-class venue such as this will allow us to capitalize on Wales' growing reputation as a destination for major events."

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This article appears in the April 2018 issue of Successful Meetings.