Host Destination: Scotland

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Edinburgh’s Room Tax: Breach in the Dyke or Bad Idea?

While the Edinburgh Convention Bureau’s future funding lies under threat, so the city has also voiced the idea of a £2 per person nightly “room tax”. Some see this as a welcome source of new revenue, but will any get back to marketing, and what about competitiveness? From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…

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Lesley Williams

Consultant, GainingEdge

Website: View website

Lesley joined BestCities in 2017 as Market Development Director, and was Managing Director from January 2020 to July 2023, following the decision of BestCities to award extending the management contract to GainingEdge. Lesley is a strong supporter and advocate of the beyond tourism impacts of meetings.  In 2017 BestCities formed a collaboration with ICCA to…

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Edinburgh Ambassadors Slam Proposed Cuts

Academics across Edinburgh have slammed proposed budget cuts that would see an 89 percent drop in the capital’s marketing over the next two years as well as the closure of its ambassador programme. Over 75 Edinburgh ambassadors contacted the City Council objecting to the proposal to slash Marketing Edinburgh’s budget by £790,000. From Association Meetings International…

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Glasgow: Medical Conferences’ Education Legacy

In 2018 three major international medical conferences were hosted in Glasgow: haemophilia, Down’s syndrome and ALS / MND. About 10% of attendees were living with the conditions under discussion. Glasgow Convention Bureau partnered with Glasgow Welcomes and VisitScotland to offer free education sessions to help event stakeholders better understand these delegates’ needs. From Boardroom…

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Scottish Event Campus Plans Expansion

The Scottish Event Campus has applied for planning permission of a major expansion project, with the aim of creating a unique global event campus. The £150 – £200 million build will develop the west end of the campus, constructing a dedicated entrance, and additional meeting, exhibition and networking spaces. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…

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VisitScotland Business Events Campaign Win

The International Congress and Convention Association announced VisitScotland Business Events as the winner of this year’s prestigious ICCA Best Marketing Award at the closing ceremony of the 57th ICCA Congress in Dubai. The winning low cost, high-impact social media campaign, Ideas Become Legend, united the industry and connected associations with expertise. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…

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Glasgow: Cancer Conference Career Legacy

Organisers of the National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference in Glasgow are seeking a long-term legacy with a special event aimed at school students considering a career in science or medicine. Sixth form students from across Scotland considering such a professional future have been invited to hear from researchers at the meeting. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…

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13 February 2019

ECM Spring Meeting 2019, Edinburgh, UK

A fully loaded two-day conference with leading international experts, event owners and select international showcases that will provide you with all the insights and inspiration you need to cultivate the event scene in your city. We proudly present event leaders and creatives from some of the world’s leading happenings and dissect the strategies that made…

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Dundee Opens Doors to Business Events

City leaders in Dundee want to “open its doors to the world” with business events. Scotland’s fourth largest city has won six “major” conferences for 2019 through its Dundee & Angus Convention Bureau Conference Ambassadors. The events are worth £1.6 million and will attract some 1,250 delegates to the city. From Association Meetings International…

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Homeless Hackathon Glasgow: A Legacy of Hacker Action

In 2017 Gallus Events’ William Thomson read in a Scottish newspaper that in his native town of Glasgow, one homeless person dies every week. He created Homeless Hackathon Glasgow, which brought together forty hacker participants, and which has yielded not one, but three projects currently under development, including an app for distributing surplus food. From PCMA Convene…

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Scotland: Fintech Scotland Fortnight 2018

Scotland’s financial services sector is now growing as fast as London’s. So the country is focusing on its fintech future with a major series of business events. Fintech Scotland Fortnight 2018 comprises eighteen conferences and meetings across Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling. It aims to reinforce Scotland’s position in the sector. Photo: Carlos Delgado. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…

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Edinburgh: Winning the World One Health Congress 2020

Edinburgh’s position as a leading hub for medical and healthcare expertise has been reinforced by the city winning hosting rights for the 6th World One Health Congress in 2020. More than 2,000 global medical or veterinary professionals, opinion leaders and policy makers will attend the four-day event at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. From Intellectual Capitals…

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Global TEDSummit Picks Edinburgh for 2019

Scotland has fought off stiff competition to play host to the 2019 TEDSummit and up to 1,300 members of TED’s global community. This high profile event will take place in July at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, and EICC’s winning bid was supported by many of the city and wider country’s stakeholder institutions. From Meetpie.com…

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Glasgow Celebrates a Record May of 22,000 Delegates

Glasgow celebrated its busiest May on record with more than 22,000 event delegates visiting, bringing in an estimated £25.5 million to the local economy. The month started with 7,000 attendees at the All Energy Conference and Exhibition, followed by two medical meetings at the SEC attracting a total of over 8,000. From Meetpie.com…

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IMEX 2018: Three GainingEdge Legacy Case Studies

The Rehabilitation International World Congress (pictured), held in Edinburgh in 2016, fundamentally advanced approaches to accessibility and inclusion. The event’s legacy – and indeed the distinction between legacy and impact – was one of three case studies discussed at an IMEX 2018 session hosted by Iceberg partner GainingEdge. From Boardroom…

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International Research Conferences: The Academic Impact

The study explores the benefits and barriers for individual researchers and universities when hosting research conferences. The study has been commissioned by the Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy – an advisory body to the Danish Minister of Higher Education and Science. Thereby the study situates the hosting of research conferences as a potential…

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Glasgow Wins 12th IEEE Meeting Since 2015

Glasgow is to host the 2020 World Congress on Computational Intelligence, a flagship event of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. This brings to twelve the IEEE meetings the city has won since 2015, which have attracted 8,000 delegates in total and contributed £14.8 million to the local economy. From Association Meetings International…

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Building a Built Environment Legacy in Glasgow

When the Chicago-based Society of Architectural Historians ran its 70th Annual International Conference, it left the US for the first time in forty years and visited Glasgow. The Glasgow Convention Bureau, VisitScotland, and the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow all helped showcase the local built environment and start a wider conversation about the future of cities. From Skift…

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EICC Reports Record 2017

The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) has reported a record year in 2017 with delegate numbers up 3,000 year-on-year to 94,000, attending around 200 events at the venue. Operating profits almost doubled year-on-year, while economic impact for the city was up to £55 million in 2017 from £51.6 million the previous year. From Association Meetings International…

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Incredible Impacts: World Parkinson Coalition

In November the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) welcomed a record number of delegates to its 56th annual congress. Almost 1,300 members, including more than 40 association executives, travelled to Prague for four days of education, chapter meetings and networking. During the event, the inaugural winners of the “Incredible Impacts” grants supported by both…

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Scottish Government Salutes Edinburgh’s Ambassadors

The debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament building is one of the most extraordinary meeting spaces ever constructed. And now the Scottish Government has further recognised the importance of meetings to the country’s economic development by saluting the academic and business ambassadors helping the capital Edinburgh to attract business and professional events. Photo: Colin. From Meetpie.com…

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