Press Cuttings Transcripts
Planning to take centre stage - New to the Job
The Times Appointments, 04 March 2004
WHEN conferences call, cash is sure to follow. A third of London’s tourist
income comes from the business sector, and conferences, exhibitions and trade
fairs bring in £3billion a year. Yet the capital is without a modern
international convention centre to compete in this market.
The London Development Agency has set up a mayoral commission to look into the
feasibility of providing such a facility, and the business leader Gerry Acher
has been confirmed as its chair.
A former KPMG board member, Acher is vice-chairman of the business group London
First and a non-executive director of Camelot.
“A successful convention centre,” he says, “could mean a quantum leap for
London. The international market for hosting large events is worth more than
£100 billion a year and growing fast. London can’t compete for that business at
present. Unlike other world cities, the capital doesn’t have a venue that can
cater for a meeting of 5,000 or more at a time.
“It is something much in demand from London’s tourism industry, but first I want
to see a totally robust, scrutiny-proof business plan that leaves us in no
doubt that this is what London needs. If we don’t find that then it is my job
to say so.”
The Mayoral Commission is an independent body, set up by the London Development
Agency (LDA), and will take evidence on this issue and provide a report and
reccommendations to the Mayor, Ken Livingstone. It will also consider whether
there are existing options in London that could be developed. Membership of the
commission will include representatives from public and private sectors in
tourism, transport and business.
Livingstone says: “Seven million people a year come to London on business.
Developing an international convention centre in London would help us to build
on this number and strengthen the capital’s appeal as a leading business
location.”
According to the LDA, business tourists represent a quarter of all visitors to
London but account for 35 per cent of all tourism spending in the capital.
The average business traveller spends about £160 a day while in London – double
the average outlay by tourists. The number of business tourists to London has
risen by an estimated 10 per cent since 1997, and has remained stable despite
the worldwide slump in travel.
Livingstone adds: “A major convention centre could bring enormous benefits to
the capital. We know business visitors who come to London don’t just sit in
meetings while they are here.”
Honor Chapman, chair of the LDA, believes that London cannot afford to be
complacent. “At present, London can’t compete with other European cities such
as Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, Vienna and Barcelona in the major
international convention centre market. That market is potentially worth
billions of pounds and could bring jobs not just to London, but to other parts
of the country.”
The first meeting of the Mayoral Commission will be held this month and an
initial report will be published within a year.
Robin Ash.