Business Tourism – UK

1. Business tourism in the UK continues to grow from strength and is now worth in excess of £22 billion in terms of its wider economic impact through associated delegate expenditure including travel, entertainment, shopping, pre/post conference activities
2. Business tourism is the fastest growing sector in world tourism and represents 28% of inbound tourism into the UK
3. According to the British Meetings and Events Industry Survey 2011, 20.4% of corporate buyers held an event in the UK in 2010 which may previously have been held overseas
4. Business tourism expenditure from overseas contributed £4.6 billion, representing 28% of global inbound spend (2008) 
5. The UK is the 4th most popular destination for international association meetings, after the USA, Germany, and Spain
6. Around 513,000 people are employed  full-time in the business tourism sector, both directly and indirectly

Business Tourism – Scotland

1. 2.47 million business trips were made to Scotland in 2009
2. Business tourism is worth £827m annually to Scotland and accounts for 20% of total tourism spend (2009)
3. Spend per night by business visitors is 1.9 times higher than that of leisure visitors
4. Scotland hosts 29% of all international association conferences held in the UK (up from 25% in 2008/09)

Business Tourism – Edinburgh

1. The economic value of business tourism to Edinburgh city region is estimated  to be in excess of £300m per annum
2. Edinburgh is the most popular UK city after London for hosting international association meetings
3. In the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) world rankings for international association meetings Edinburgh is 33rd (2012)
4. In a report by global consultants HVS London (Summer 2011), Edinburgh has been identified as being the most attractive city for hotel investment in the UK with a number of high profile major investments in the pipeline with an nearly 1,500 additional rooms coming on-stream in the next two years
5. Edinburgh was ranked first in a ‘value for money’ survey of ten world class conference destinations commissioned by VisitBritain (2009)
6. Edinburgh voted Favourite UK City for the 13th consecutive year in Guardian/Observer Travel Awards 2012
7. Edinburgh crowned 'the best small city of the future’ by fDi Magazine's European Cities & Regions 2008/09 and 2010/11
8. Edinburgh is a centre of excellence for tourism, science & technology, medicine, higher education and finance
9. Edinburgh Airport is Scotland’s largest airport and the sixth busiest in the UK, operating to over 100 destinations with 40 airlines
10. Tourism in Edinburgh generates £1.6 billion annually and sustains over 30,000 jobs

Marketing Edinburgh, Convention Bureau (MECB)

1. MECB is the lead organisation responsible for promoting Edinburgh and Lothians as a premier conference, incentive, meetings and event destination
2. MECB provides professional and tailored advice on bid preparation, venue finding, accommodation and all conference services at no charge
3. The Convention Bureau secured £84.4m of economic benefit for the city region in 2012/13
4. The Convention Bureau confirmed 179 meetings during 2012/13, attracting 55,000 delegates to the city between 2012 and 2018 
5. MECB is a membership organisation representing over 150 industry members including venues, attractions, transport providers and conference organisers
6. The value of business placed with accommodation members in 2011/12 via the bureau's Accommodation Bookings Service was £1.67m
7. The Edinburgh Ambassadors Programme has over 500 ambassadors representing all major academic and commercial fields in which Edinburgh has an international reputation
8. Around 70% of association meetings are secured via the Convention Bureau’s award-winning Edinburgh Ambassador Programme which since 1996 has helped bring more than 210 major conferences, worth almost £100 million in revenue to the city
9. Of the conferences and events secured by the Convention Bureau in 2011/12, 87% were International Association meetings
10. Edinburgh is a founder member of the BestCities Global Alliance, the first global convention bureaux alliance committed to delivering the world’s best service experience for meeting & event planners in each of the member cities (Berlin, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dubai, Edinburgh, Houston, Melbourne, Singapore and Vancouver). Chicago has recently joined as a preliminary member.  See www.bestcities.net
11. In a tourism survey 69% of conference delegates reported they would not have come to Edinburgh on a leisure break had their conference not been held in the city.  32% say they will definitely return to visit Edinburgh on a leisure break in the next 2-3 years and 62% say they will probably visit in the future
12. The introduction of the Convention Bureau’s interactive website www.meetingedinburgh.com   (believed to be the first of its kind for any convention bureau in the world) saw a 10% increase in Request For Proposals (RFP). Conversions delivered an economic impact of over £2m for MECB members during 2009/10
13. Another first is the Convention Bureau’s new Experience Edinburgh website www.experienceedinburgh.org , piloted in 2008/09 and designed to encourage delegates to extend their stay by offering easy online information.