Press Cuttings Transcripts
'London needs centre to host conventions'
Travel Trade Gazette, 01 March 2004
The conference world came to London last week for Confex 2004. Adam Coulter and Dave Richardson report.
London has moved a step nearer to gaining an international convention centre
after a major consultation exercise took place last week at Internation Confex
last week.
Mayor Ken Livingstone has set up a commission in a bid to stop London losing
major events to other cities in Eyutope or the UK. The commission is due to
report back within a year.
Despite having major exhibition venues such as Earls Court, Olympia and ExCeL,
London’s largest convention venue is the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
in Westminster, which has capacity for up to 1,000 people.
The chair of the Mayoral Commission, Gerry Acher, visited Confex last week. He
told TTG: “We already know the busines travel sector is worth £3 billion a year
to the capital, and business travellers spend twice the amount leisure
travellers do every day.
“We also know that other ajor convention centres, such as Vienna, contribute up
to £150 million a year into the local economy.
“I am proposing a consultation process to look in detail at whether London is as
competitive as it could be in this sector, and whether there’s a strong case
for a new, large-scale convention centre.“
David Campbell, chief executive of Visit London, added: “London is in a great
position to attract business visitors, but we know we can’t afford to be
complacent.
“Other major cities around the world are developing or improving large-scale
convention centres, and we run the risk of being left behind.”
Birmingham and Glasgow have bigger conference venues, but many organisers opt to
hold their events in other countries because London is not available. Only one
of the top 10 events held in the UK last year was held in the capital.
A major new centre in the heart of London would need public money to be built,
but other options could include extending or even adapting existing venues.
Honor Chapman, chair of the London Development Agency, said: “London can’t
compete with Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, Vienna and Barcelona in the
major international convention market.
“That market is potentially worth billions of pounds and could bring jobs and
wealth not just to London but to other parts of the country, too.”