Leeds Named Fifth Most Popular MICE Destination in the UK

(Image Source: Travel Weekly)

ConferenceLeeds is celebrating the city’s continued success, as Leeds climbs to become the fifth most popular conferencing city in the UK, according to this year’s British Meetings and Events Industry survey (BMEIS). The annual national survey provides a comprehensive overview of buying trends in the UK conference and events industry, including insight from hundreds of buyers across the association business and corporate sectors.

The report shows that the volume of events overall has seen an increase in 2016 of 12% in the corporate sector, with association business events also seeing a significant increase on 2015 levels. Leeds is at the forefront of this upward trend, with recent results from the UKCAMS and STEAM reports showing a 5.3% increase in tourism visits since 2013 and business tourism driving around 4million delegates to the city in 2015, contributing £501 million to the local economy per year.

The industry report highlights the continued strength of the top three cities: London, Birmingham and Manchester, but also showcases the growth and recognition of Leeds as a leading conference destination. The top factors cited as influencing the selection of destinations included access, price and capacity of conference facilities.

Cllr Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council, said “Once again Leeds is proving that we’re a city that doesn’t stand still. We know how much hard work goes in to developing business tourism across Leeds and these results showcase this on a national scale. The transformation of Leeds in recent years and the developments throughout 2016 have been impressive, with strategic growth at Leeds Bradford Airport, improvements in the visitor economy infrastructure and of course the opening of the new Victoria Gate shopping centre. This confidence in the city is reflected in the strong results that business tourism in Leeds continues to achieve and this has a direct impact on the economic success of the city, making a difference to everyone who lives and works here. Both leisure and business tourism in the city are growing at a truly impressive rate, with Leeds becoming increasingly recognised as a fantastic destination to host world-class conferences and events.”

Jennifer Young, Head of ConferenceLeeds, added: “This news is the perfect way to round off a very successful year for Leeds, further highlighting the success of our conferencing city campaign, which focuses on utilising our sector strengths within the city to proactively target sector specific conferences. For Leeds to be achieving such results without the benefit of a large convention centre in the city truly sets it apart from its competitors We were also pleased to see recognition in the BMEIS results for the important role that conference ambassadors play in conferences and events, particularly as we have recently announced our proactive search to find conference ambassadors as we head into 2017.”