VisitBritain will lead some of the biggest brands in the events industry in the 2007 National Meetings Week, which will take place between 15-19 October.
 
The campaign, set up to raise awareness of the UK meetings and events industry, will focus its theme on the positive impact meetings have in sustaining our culture, arts, heritage, local economy, community and education throughout the UK.
 
“Many venues, educational, sporting, historic, unusual and unique, are members of the meetings industry,” said Joss Croft, head of business visits & events at VisitBritain. “These venues provide meeting and events space as a way of sustaining their positions either as a tourist attraction, employer or building of a cultural or historic nature; a fact we should be proud of.”
 
With sustainability at the hub of this year’s campaign, National Meetings Week has already generated a great deal of support from the industry, with Sodexho Prestige, Visit London, The Meetings Industry Association, The British Association of Conference Destinations, Eventia and The Events Industry Alliance already signed up as supporters.
 
In addition, this year, the UK Conference Market Survey (UKCMS), produced by National Meetings Week supporters, the Meetings Industry Association (MIA), will be launched during the campaign week. “The UK Conference Market Survey is the industry’s leading research and it makes sense for the results to be published alongside one of the industry’s biggest events,” said Jane Evans, chief executive, MIA.

 “The meetings and events industry contributes around £12 billion to the national economy each year and supports 530,000 jobs” concludes Joss Croft. “We, as an industry and as a nation, need to embrace the positive impact that the meetings industry has on the UK, not only in terms of finance, but in terms of sustainability”.