Glasgow climbs world conference rankings

Official figures have confirmed Glasgow's status as one of the world's top conference destinations.

A new report issued by industry body the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) shows Glasgow attracted more international conference delegates last year than major global cities including Melbourne, Toronto, Boston, Bangkok, Brussels and Dublin.

More than 25,000 delegates visited Glasgow in 2010, placing the city 29th in ICCA's world rankings - a rise of 22 places from 51st in 2009.

Only London, having dropped from 17th in 2009 to 27th, ranked ahead of Glasgow as the leading UK city - attracting 27,168 delegates - while Edinburgh featured in 38th place (18,263). No other UK city made it into the top 100.

Glasgow secured over £155 million (€175.4m) in conference sales in the financial year ending March 2011, which equated to 509,240 delegate days. Of that, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB) was responsible for securing conventions business valued at more than £100 million (€113.2m).

Councillor Gordon Matheson

As well as attracting small conferences, Glasgow’s reputation for bringing in the major congresses, which attract thousands of international delegates and deliver significant economic impact, has placed us ahead of any other Scottish city and barely behind London.

Targeting large-scale international association meetings will continue to form an integral part of the city’s economic strategy going forward, reinforcing our commitment that meeting in Glasgow equates with success.

Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau

The global meetings industry faced a particularly difficult time in 2010, having to combat a range of downward pressures from economic uncertainties caused by the banking crisis to volcanic eruptions impacting travel across Europe.
Despite these factors, Glasgow has once again proved to be a resilient destination – delivering a strong performance to rank amongst the top 30 cities in the world.

Martin Sirk, CEO, International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA)
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