LEICESTER: The IAMCR conference is latest success story in strategic campaign to grow business tourism in Leicester and Leicestershire’s visitor economy has gained a major boost after an international conference recently delivered an economic impact of over £1 million.

This is the latest conferencing success story since the development of Leicester Shire Promotions’ strategic marketing campaign to grow business tourism in Leicester and Leicestershire began in 2012. Around 1,200 delegates from 77 separate countries in Europe and worldwide attended the International Association for Media and Communication (IAMCR) Conference at the University of Leicester from 27-31 July 2016.The bid to host the conference was secured by the University of Leicester in partnership with Leicester Shire Promotions, and was managed by the local organising committee in partnership with Holland Alexander, Leicester Shire Promotions and the University of Leicester conference office, according to ITCM.

Bruce Girard, Executive Director of the IAMCR said: :One of the things that attracted us to Leicester was its tremendous cultural diversity. IAMCR has members in almost 100 countries all over the globe and Leicester both reflected and respected our own diversity. The warm reception was highly appreciated by participants.”

Peter Lunt, Professor of Media and Communication, Department of Media and Communication at the University of Leicester added: “Organising such a high profile, large scale and complex event required building a strong team to manage different aspects of the work of planning, organising and hosting the conference and meeting the needs of the delegates. A key part of the management of this project was the building of a strong team with professionals from many fields including events management, catering, IT, estates and so on both from departments within the University of Leicester and external agencies who were able take on important roles.

“Leicester Shire Promotions was a key partner at all stages of the conference from the initial bid to planning and delivery of the conference. Leicester Shire Promotions provided vital information for the conference bid, managed hotel and train bookings for conference delegates, developing and managing social tours and hosting an information desk as part of the conference Hub. The work of Leicester Shire Promotions was critical to attracting, and the delivery of, a successful conference and complemented the work of the academic and administrative teams from the University.

“A key part of this was the willingness of Leicester Shire promotions to be part of our local organising committee and thereby to become a key advisor and decision maker for the project as a whole in addition to providing high quality support services for the conference.”

Martin Peters, Chief Executive of Leicester Shire Promotions, commented: “We’re delighted that our business tourism team was able to help the University of Leicester and event organisers to secure and deliver this successful conference. The value of the conference to the local visitor economy doubles the original estimate and demonstrates the effectiveness of our strategy for attracting high profile conferences and events to the city and county.”

Delegates represented 77 countries including the UK, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Australia, USA, Chile, China, Qatar, Egypt, South Africa, Japan, Uruguay, France, Ireland, Nigeria, Vietnam, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Colombia, Sri Lanka, India and Canada. -The Educationist Monitoring