More than 15 local businesses in Edinburgh came together to present a united front to a group of events professionals who flew into the capital for a three-day familiarisation (‘fam’) trip.

Scotland’s capital played host to 36 buyers from international hotel and venue sourcing company Global Cynergies in a bid to promote the city as a meetings and conventions destination.

The trip, from 11-14 May, involved delegates from North America, Europe and Asia as they made a stopover on their way to the global MICE show IMEX, taking place in Frankfurt this week.

Headed up by Convention Edinburgh, the business tourism arm of Marketing Edinburgh, the delegates delved in to a range of activities, experiences and locations to get a taste of Edinburgh’s rich culture and ultimately inspire them to plan their future meetings and conferences within the city.

Convention Edinburgh collaborated with more than 15 separate businesses within Edinburgh, from hotels to visitor attractions. Thanks to the backing of each business, their itinerary was jam-packed with tours of Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Botanic Garden, the Assembly Rooms and the National Gallery of Scotland to name a few.

Celebrating Scotland’s biggest export, the guests were also treated to a whisky tasting and dinner at The Scotch Whisky Experience.

Amanda Ferguson

Amanda Ferguson, Head of Business Tourism at Convention Edinburgh, said: “The group had an informative but also fun weekend. The aim was to educate them on our diverse product offering for conference and meetings, whilst they also experienced the city first hand as their delegates would. We are placing Edinburgh front of mind before they travelled on to IMEX, one of the largest global trade shows for business events, taking place this week in Frankfurt.

“Thanks to the number of local businesses which hosted different elements of the group’s activities, we compiled a really exciting and interesting itinerary that our delegates loved. This was also a great opportunity for us to raise awareness of the city’s business tourism campaign, Make it Edinburgh, which launched in the autumn. The campaign celebrates the city’s unique position as a centre of excellence, innovation and heritage which we’re sure will come through on this trip.

“Visits like this present significant potential return on investment I hope the group left feeling very inspired by Edinburgh and look to return with their clients

Organised by Convention Edinburgh in partnership with Global Cynergies, the organisations were keen to provide support to a local children’s charity which coincides with Scotland’s Year of Young People.  Selected to benefit from the trip is Cash for Kids.

Pat Durocher, CEO and Founder of Global Cynergies, said: “It has been fantastic to be able to organise this trip with Convention Edinburgh. Together we have been able to create a great itinerary for the group who learned a lot about the city’s culture and the different organisations, which conference and meeting planners can utilise when planning a trip to Edinburgh.

“Having the trip before IMEX fitted perfectly as the group are set for a week of learning about world class destinations for conferences and meetings and Edinburgh is going to feature prominently throughout. I am sure everyone who attended had a great weekend and enjoyed every moment of it.”