Domestic conference industry 'doing well' due to weak pound

Date: 26/02/2009

Companies hoping to host a corporate hospitality event for overseas delegates, or a team building exercise for members of their business abroad, may consider the UK as a cost-effective place to meet up, it is said.

Speaking to the Travel Trade Gazette Live, Ben Goedegebuure, the sales director of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, said the pound had devalued so much in the last few months that it is now 43 per cent cheaper to host an event than it was at the beginning of 2007.

Commenting on the openings available to British businesses, he continued: "It presents an outstanding opportunity to seize and grow market share in the North American market and allows us to challenge perception issues the US market has had with UK venues and suppliers."

Despite this, the current economic climate is making it harder to agree terms and conditions on such events, with Medina Peters of the Royal Lancaster hotel dealing with increased bookings but more companies looking to cut back on spending.

Earlier this month, Elling Hamso of Fresh Business Thinking said that businesses should not cancel team building events as they are one of the most important things a business can engage in during the downturn.

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