18.02.04
New Chair of Mayoral Commission at International Confex to sound out industry
for new convention centre in London
The man tasked with deciding whether London needs a new, world-class convention
centre will be at International Confex (Stand B762) to begin his discussions
with the industry.
Business leader Gerry Acher has recently been appointed Chair of the Mayoral
Commission looking in detail at whether London needs an International
Convention Centre. Set up by the London Development Agency, the Mayor’s agency
for business and jobs, the Commission will explore thoroughly the potential
benefits of building a large-scale international convention centre in the
capital. It will also look more widely at other options to ensure London
maximises its potential in the multi-billion pound business travel sector.
Mr Acher, currently Vice-Chairman of business group London First and a
non-executive director of Camelot, said: ‘We already know the business travel
sector is worth £3bn a year to the capital and business travellers spend twice
the amount leisure travellers do every day. We also know other major convention
centres such as Vienna inject up to £150m every year into the local economy.
‘I am proposing a consultation process among stakeholders and Londoners that
will 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.’
Some of the important questions to be addressed in the consultation include:
Does London attract its fair share of new business tourists, and if not, why
not?
Is there a business case for an International Convention Centre in London?
Are there other ways, other than a purpose built ICC, to fill any gap in
London’s share of the business tourism market?
If there is a case for an ICC, where should it be built, how should it be
financed and in what timeframe could it be completed?
Mr Acher added: ‘I am committed to finding the right answer for London and have
already made it clear, to the Mayor and the LDA, that if my commission finds
the case proven for an ICC I will be at the forefront of a campaign to build
it. Conversely, if the case is not made I will say so clearly and robustly.’
The Mayoral Commission is an independent body, set up by the London Development
Agency, to take evidence on this major issue and provide a report and
recommendations to the Mayor of London for his deliberation.
The need to investigate the case for an International Convention Centre in
London was highlighted in ‘Visit London, the Mayor’s Plan for Tourism in
London’ published in September 2002. A decision to establish the Mayoral
Commission was taken after the first London Leadership Forum on Business
Tourism last year, organised and facilitated by Visit London, London’s official
tourism body. The forum brought together 100 major industry figures and
identified an international convention centre as one of five key issues for the
capital to address.
David Campbell, Chief Executive of Visit London, said: ‘London’s 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 the capital runs the risk of being left
behind in this multi-billion pound industry unless it acts. Gerry’s work this
year will be vital in establishing if there is a strong business case for
developing new facilities in London.’
Mr Acher will now appoint fellow commissioners who can bring an in-depth
understanding of the broad range of issues and challenges surrounding such a
project. The first meeting of the Mayoral Commission will be within a month and
an initial report within a year.
For media enquiries please contact Linda Biggers on 01273 704040 or email
mediacentre@londonicc.co.uk