Case Studies
8
March 2016
The team delivers
for the Toon
As NewcastleGateshead Convention
Bureau waved goodbye to a busy
2015, staff looked forward to an
even more successful year ahead
Associations are a significant contributor to
the meetings and events industry, as well as
the local economy, in NewcastleGateshead.
In 2015 alone, NewcastleGateshead
Convention Bureau bid for and won 11
association conferences welcoming 3,230
delegates to the region, contributing an
estimated £1.8m to the local economy.
NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau’s
Conference Ambassador Programme
success has been recognised by industry
professionals with the Convention Bureau
recently being awarded Best Industry
Partnership at the 2015 Association of
British Professional Conference Organisers
(ABPCO) Annual Awards for Excellence.
Looking forward to the year ahead,
NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau
has association conferences secured up until
2018 - with high profile associations such
as the British Academy of Management,
the British Microcirculation Society and
the Association of Law Teachers coming
to the region in 2016. It’s not just large
associations NewcastleGateshead can cater
for though, the destination also attracts a
variety of smaller associations including the
Association of German studies coming to
NewcastleGateshead in August.
Association conferences and events
secured so far for 2016 bringing an
estimated £1.9m to the local economy.
Paul Szomoru, head of business tourism
CN_02.16_AEM.indd 8
at NewcastleGateshead
Convention Bureau, said:
“Attracting associations to
NewcastleGateshead is a key
element of the work that we do.
Our strategy is intrinsically linked
with our inward investment team,
focusing on our three key sectors
of strong economic growth and
academic excellence; creative and
digital, science and healthcare, as
well as offshore and marine.
“We have a fast growing technology
sector with leading technology and creative
companies such as Ubisoft, Eutechnyx and
FSTE 100 company Sage Group plc based in
the area. We have pioneering research facilities
such as the International Centre for Life and
the National Centre for Ageing Science and
Innovation, breaking ground in science and
healthcare. NewcastleGateshead is also only
one of six Centres for Offshore Renewable
Engineering (CORE) in England. Home to
the world’s most advanced steel tube facility,
the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and
soon to open in 2016 is the Neptune National
Centre for Subsea and Offshore Engineering,
bringing together industry and academia.
“We’re also proud to have two leading
universities. Newcastle University is ranked
in the top 1% of universities in the world, is
number one in the UK for computer sciences
and Northumbria University is spearheading
the way in computer forensics and security.
“Our team has an excellent relationship
with the leading institutions and businesses.
We seek to thread together the key
academics, researchers, industry experts
and conference organisers, supporting in
the creation of outstanding conferences
and events.
“Our Conference Ambassador Programme,
created in 2002, is designed to help
academics, professionals, researchers and
business leaders to bid and stage inspiring
conferences in NewcastleGateshead. In the
first 10 years we delivered 120 conferences
and events through the programme,
welcoming 37,000 delegates to the region and
boosting the economy by an estimated £65m.
“In 2014 the Conference Ambassador
Programme was re-launched, in partnership
with Newcastle University, refreshing our
strategy and approach to create an even more
successful programme.”
18/02/2016 09:56