Official figures have confirmed Glasgow's status as one of the
world's top conference destinations.
A new report from 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 - up 22 places from
51st in 2009.
Only London 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 the top
100.
Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council said:
"We have invested wisely in infrastructure projects that support
business tourism, from funding a significant proportion of the
development of the Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre to
progressing venues across the city that provide bespoke reception
and satellite meeting facilities".
Glasgow secured over £155 million in conference sales in the
year ending March 2011, which equated to 509,240 delegate days.
Martin Sirk, CEO of Amsterdam-based ICCA, said: "Glasgow has
once again proved to be a resilient destination - delivering a
strong performance to rank amongst the top 30 conference cities in
the world."