STAND by for a £150,000 business bonanza for York over the next six months.
That is how much cash is likely to be generated by national and international conferences planned for the city through the remainder of this year The success of York as a conference honeypot is due to a concerted effort by York & Scarborough Conferences, the organisation supported by Visit York, Welcome to Yorkshire, City of York Council, Scarborough Borough Council and tourism businesses in York and Scarborough.
It has secured events and conferences from a wide range of organisations, including the Solution Mining Research Institute, The International Society for Photogammery & Remote Sensing, various Rotary Districts and The Association for the Professional Development of Early Years Education conference.
August will see 100 delegates arriving at the Marriott Hotel in York for the Early Years Education Conference and in the same month, more than 100 delegates will converge on York for The International Society for Photogammery & Remote Sensing Conference, which is being hosted at the National Railway Museum and the Kings Manor, one of historic York’s most attractive and unusual sites.
In November, The Hilton in York will be welcoming 80 delegates attending the British Association of Forensic Odontology Conference.
The event aims to encourage education and good practice in forensic odontology, which involves working with police, coroners and solicitors to help in the identification of unknown human remains through dental records and assisting at the scenes of disasters.
As part of the event, the group will attend an evening dinner at the York Castle Museum. Laura Freer, business tourism marketing manager for York & Scarborough Conferences, said: “Our work to promote York as the place for conferences is paying off.
“It’s great to see so many conference bookings coming through, especially in light of the difficult economic climate which has hit some conference venues. We are delighted to be able to support event organisers by working closely with the venues and hotels around the region to deliver top-class events.
“We hope the success we are seeing this year will grow and continue through to 2012.”
Business tourism in York generates a total of £203 million per year and the city was ranked seventh in the top ten business tourism cities in England in 2007.
• Scarborough generates £9 million of business tourism spend annually and won the title Europe’s Most Enterprising Place at the European Enterprise Awards 2009.
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