Press Cuttings Transcripts
London News
Conworld.net, 12 April 2004
Visit London to expand Business and Conventions: Visit London will be doubling its spending and increasing the size of the team working on business tourism in 2004/05 to reflect a more focused sales and marketing approach to attracting business tourism to the capital. From March onwards, business marketing will work within an overall Visit London marketing framework and business marketing messages will be integrated within all relevant campaigns. The move integrates business tourism throughout the whole organisation whereas previously Visit London Business and Conventions (VLBC) (formerly the London Convention Bureau) was managed as an independent unit within Visit London.
Mayoral Commission for new London convention centre elects six members to be on board: Six expert members of the business tourism community have been tasked with deciding whether London needs a new, purpose-built, convention centre: Vanessa Cotton, Managing Director of The Event Organisation Company; Martin George, British Airways Director of Marketing and Commercial Development; Gary Grimmer, Former CEO of the Melbourne Convention and Visitors’ Bureau; Katie Kopec, European Director Strategic Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle; Larry Oltmanns, Director of architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM); and Roger Tondeur, CEO of MCI Group.
London dropped out of top ten most expensive cities: A survey compiled by BTI UK confirms that London has slipped to number eleven in the list of most expensive cities for business travellers. The travel management company’s annual hotel survey analyses room nights booked and rates paid by more than 7,500 clients in 2003. The survey showed that average room rates in London declined by five per cent last year, from £128.74 to £122.55, and the city dropped out of the top ten high cost cities in the world. Hotels in Milan and Paris emerged as the most expensive in the world.
Green light for Dome development: A scheme to turn the Millennium Dome into a concert and sports venue and build thousands of homes on the land nearby has been given the go-ahead. The consortium includes the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which wants to turn the Dome in south east London into a 20,000 seat arena for top stars. Work is expected to start in spring 2005. The Dome also features in London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.
London Leadership Forum: The second annual London Leadership Forum on Business Tourism was held on March 30. Entitled “Winning new business events for London”, the Forum was funded by the London Development Agency (LDA) in partnership with Visit London. It was attended by senior decision-makers and business leaders within London’s business tourism industry. The forum is intended to find ways to build on London’s competitive strengths and overcome its relative weaknesses as a destination for business events. A full and detailed report from the forum will be available at the end of April.