Press Cuttings Transcripts
Speculate to accumulate
Access all Areas, January 28th 2005
London is turning away up to £27 million in conference business every year according to a demand study carried out by consultant Grant Thornton for the Mayoral Commission into the feasibility of developing an international conference centre (ICC) in the capital.
The study fuels a growing debate as to whether an ICC located in London would attract more international visitors and be of lasting benefit to the capital and country as a whole. The London Development Agency (LDA) established the commission in December 2003 and it is due to present it’s finding to the mayor in April, following the completion of an economic report and further investigations into funding possible locations and best practise from ICC’s around the world.
Why any final recommendations by the commission will undoubtedly be delayed in order to accommodate the outcome of London’s 2012 bid, which will be by the Olympic committee on July 6. Primary investigations indicate that although London has a number of existing facilities that are performing well, they lack the flexibility of use that a single, purpose built facility would provide. Further, the capital is currently not in a position to compete in the fast growing sector of the market, that of conferences which require venues capable of accommodating 2,000 delegates and above.
Findings
The Grant Thornton study reports that 15 out of 18 key London conference venues say they regularly turn business away through a lack of availability, with the equivalent of 90,000 potential delegate days lost annually. By examining the performance of major European cities in 2003 it found that London hosted just 144 international association meetings, defined as 300 or more delegates compared with 272 in Paris, and Vienna and Brussels both hosting more than 180. While Paris had a 25.7 per cent share of the important 3,000 to 5,000 delegate sector, London had only 5.7 per cent.
Despite registering highly as a destination, the average cost per delegate in London reportedly acts as a barrier, at around £300 per day compared with £268 in Paris, £209 in Barcelona and £177 in Vienna. Taking figures from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), the study shows that 1,026 meetings of more than 500 delegates which always rotate within Europe have not been to the British capital in the last 20 years. “Many of the largest conventions do not even have London on their shopping list,” Commission chairman Gerry Acher says. “Our study indicates strong growth in major conference business being attracted by cities such as Paris and Barcelona, both of which have first class international conference centres.”
Acher and other representatives from Mayoral Commission sponsored a forum designed to debate the requirements and facilities of ‘The Perfect Convention Centre’ at a conference held by the ICCA in Cape Town last October. In addition to key points on location, flexibility of space, and environmental sustainability, design elements were also raised, notably the ‘form should follow function’. It was felt that any proposed ICC should be designed to a brief prepared by the operator, rather than encouraging architects to tender designs for an iconic building.