Destination
The stuff
of legend
Rory Archibald, Associations
& Sectors at VisitScotland
Business Events looks back
over the last 12 months
W
e have promoted, over the last
two years, that Scotland is the
place where #IdeasBecomeLegend.
During 2019, business events in
Scotland were legendary. This year
Scotland has hosted major events
including the largest DataFest to date,
TEDSummit, the annual European
Society Paediatric Gastroenterology
meeting and the World News Media
Congress. It has also been a year of new
initiatives and the launch of Scotland’s
largest business events investment.
Since winning the ICCA Best
Marketing Award last November, our
Legends campaign has gone from
strength to strength. The campaign
concludes this November, with its final
focus on Scotland’s food and drink
sector. To date, #IdeasBecomeLegend
has generated £16m worth of enquiries.
Not only has this been a fantastic
year for VisitScotland Business Events
but it has been a fantastic year for the
country’s business events sector.
This summer, Edinburgh was in
the international spotlight as the city
hosted the prestigious TEDSummit
at the Edinburgh International
Convention Centre.
The summit, part of the TED
network, welcomed more than 1,000
TED members from 84 countries who
had the chance to explore Edinburgh,
attend more than 100 discovery
sessions, engage with over 57 TED
Talks and listen to a variety of musical
performances, including Edinburgh-
born KT Tunstall.
28 — October
On the penultimate day of the event,
First Minister of Scotland, Nicola
Sturgeon conducted her own TEDTalk.
Discussing the measurements of success
used by countries, the First Minister
shared her vision for governments
to begin prioritising wellbeing over
economic growth, to challenge the
accepted use of GDP to gauge progress,
and to put people first. Her talk has
been an international viral hit and has
been watched over 1.1 million times on
the TED website. Not only is the idea
inspiring, but it opens Scotland to a
new audience, and showcases a side of
Scotland that is bold and progressive.
In the weeks following TEDSummit,
the doors to Scotland’s largest
development of 2019 opened in
Aberdeen, P&J Live at the heart of The
Event Complex Aberdeen.
The £333m complex, which
replaces the Aberdeen Exhibition and
Conference Centre, is the largest event
complex in the north of Scotland, and
will host global exhibitions, conventions
and live events.
P&J Live opened with the 23rd
Nicola Sturgeon speaks at TEDSummit: A
Community Beyond Borders. July 21-25, 2019,
Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo: Bret Hartman / TED
Offshore Europe Conference &
Exhibition with more than 36,000 oil &
gas professionals from 130 countries.
The venue has a huge focus on
sustainability and is powered by local,
renewable energy sources.
P&J Live has 48,000sqm of flexible
event space and conference capacity for
up to 5,000 delegates and at its heart is
a 15,000 capacity arena.
The development also includes two
on-site hotels including the adjoining
four-star Hilton Aberdeen TECA with
200 bedrooms, Scotland’s first Aloft
Hotel (Aloft Aberdeen TECA) with
150 bedrooms. There is a third hotel
currently in development.
The new facility is an integral part of
Aberdeen City Council’s plan to grow
the city’s economy. P&J Live is expected
to contribute an additional 4.5 million
visitors, £113m of visitor spend and £63m
net GVA to the country’s economy.
In 2020 we are looking forward to
growing the internationalisation of our
homegrown events and ensuring that
business events in the country are a
catalyst for economic and social change.