Conference News Supplements CN Manchester Supplement, June 2018 | Page 5

5
Manchester
City in the city
EventCity is the newest kid on the Manchester block. Simon Jones,
sales and marketing director, explains why the city needs it
recent report published
by Skift, The Rise of
Midsize Cities in the
Meetings Industry, in
North America and Europe,
commissioned by the IMEX Group,
notes that midsize cities are
growing in popularity with event
organisers and their delegates,
highlighting a number of reasons
for this change in circumstances.
The report shows that midsize
cities have made themselves more
appealing by investing heavily in
urban revitalisation, events
infrastructure and transport links.
They are refocusing city branding
messages to prioritise sector
strengths, with local leaders in key
sectors available as exhibitors,
sponsors and speakers at events.
This means organisers are
increasingly turning to midsize
cities, the likes of Manchester,
Liverpool, Aberdeen, Brighton and
Bath.
Midsize cities are just as easy to
get to as capitals thanks to
excellent transport links, have a
good stock of large and
well-equipped venues, offer ample
hotel stock, fascinating histories,
industrial strengths, human capital
and creativity, all with the
additional appeal of making
budgets go much further.
Midsized cities bring a
characteristic that capital cities
struggle to compete with. A large
event in a midsize city feels like a
big deal. The whole city can
become part of an event, there is
far more city-wide collaboration
and more intention to build a
positive legacy.
We’re proud of our home city of
Manchester, it’s a great example of
a midsize city punching above its
weight. Manchester has a strong
industrial past, which includes the
world’s first passenger steam
railway and the arrival of cotton
mills in the region, turning it into
the world’s leading cotton and
textile trade centre. Where
EventCity now stands was the
manufacturing site of the WWII
Merlin engines for the Lancaster
Bomber and Spitfire, so to have
such a rich history on our doorstep
EventCity facts
• Opened in 2011
• Second largest
event space
outside of
London
• Four halls
• 28,000sqm of
event space
• Originally built in
1995 for
Manchester
Tobacco
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is fantastic; it roots us to the
heritage of our industrial city.
This constantly developing and
transforming city is committed to
attracted business events and
never misses an opportunity to
showcase its highlights and
accolades to attract meetings,
events and conferences.
We’re part of one of Manchester’s
recent developments –
TRAFFORDCITY – a city within the
city of Manchester, and the new
destination brand for the area
around Trafford Centre.
TRAFFORDCITY is easy to reach
from all directions by air, road and
rail, and offers ample parking for
cars and coaches. The 200
hectares area of TRAFFORDCITY
comprises over 1,000 hotel
bedrooms, 316,000sqm of retail,
restaurant, leisure and commercial
development, a further 61 hectares
for future development and our
venue, EventCity, the North’s
largest, flexible exhibition and event
venue, which we hope will help put
Manchester firmly on the events
industry map.
With 28,000sqm adaptable event
space and cutting-edge
audio-visual technology, any event
is possible at EventCity. It’s a core
component of Manchester’s
product as a leading midsize city
business event destination. Large,
well-equipped venues like ours,
combined with all the attractions
and qualities Manchester has in
abundance, enable the city to
compete for event business on the
world-stage, with an offering that
can rival any global city.