AAA White Paper The political economy of informal events, 2030 | Page 115

“Glasgow is internationally famed for its culture, for music, art and sport. We’ve become synonymous with hosting events – from upcoming bands cutting their teeth at small city clubs, through to international, multisport events with global audiences running into hundreds of millions. “We have a rich and varied events ecosystem. To support it, we’ve made landmark additions to the city. Since 2013, at our Scottish Event Campus, we’ve had the 12,000-seat SSE Hydro, which hosts music megastars as well as global entertainment and sporting events. But we’ve also backed iconic venues such as Barrowlands, a ballroom which takes nearly 2000 people, and King Tuts, a club with a world- beating record of live acts. In fact, live music alone is worth about £160m to Glasgow, whilst the Scottish Events Campus already generates £400m for us. cities in the UK and Europe, and working in partnership with event industry leaders, the City Council recently established the Glasgow Night Time Economy Commission to advise on how our NTE should best develop in years to come. “We’re clear that today’s events play a key role, every day and every night, in Glasgow’s future employment, tourism and general economic development. That’s why having a fully articulated strategy for events is nothing less than essential.” “Our citywide NTE is worth more than £2bn and employs the equivalent of more than 16,000 full-time staff. So, taking a lead from some comparator The Leader of Glasgow City Council on the need to go out and make events happen Susan Aitken 115