Festivals Edinburgh unveiled as headline sponsor of prestigious European events and tourism conference

Festivals Edinburgh has been unveiled as the headline sponsor of a prestigious European events and tourism conference – which comes to the capital next week.

Around 175 senior destination leaders – from cities across the continent – will gather in Edinburgh on 13-15 February to discuss key events and tourism issues such as destination management and future travel trends.

A leading association for tourism organisations, ECM aims to improve the competitiveness and performance of leading European cities; the event was secured last June thanks to the efforts of Marketing Edinburgh.

Marketing Edinburgh, which is dedicated to promoting Edinburgh to the world, is liaising with the core ECM team to deliver the event and develop a compelling and thought-provoking programme, under the over-arching theme of ‘Eventful Cities! Featuring Festival of Failures’.

Registration to attend opened last month for the two-day conference, which will see leading international experts and event owners provide insights and inspiration needed to cultivate the event scene. Among the topics for discussion next week will be “festival of failures” where “brave survivors of epic disasters and shitstorms in event management will share their experiences and valuable learnings”.

As the main sponsor, Festivals Edinburgh will welcome guests at the reception dinner as well as host a talk on the complex festivals eco-system and the phenomenon of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In addition, Festivals Edinburgh will be hosting walking tours to delegates as part of the social programme, which will uncover the hidden sites and stories of the world’s leading festival city.

John Donnelly, CEO of Marketing Edinburgh, said: “Festivals Edinburgh is the perfect partner for the festival-themed European Cities Marketing Spring Meeting and we’re thrilled to join them in welcoming industry leaders from across Europe to the Scottish Capital.

“Edinburgh is a fantastic destination for events and this is a huge opportunity for us to showcase the city’s undisputed standards of excellence. As a member of the ECM we understand the multiple benefits and opportunities this event presents for a city so it’s great to see local support from our key partners – without them, this wouldn’t be possible.”

Sorcha Carey, Chair of Festivals Edinburgh, said: “There is no better place for European city leaders to discuss events and festivals than our world-leading festival city and so we are delighted to partner with and support Marketing Edinburgh in bringing the European Cities Marketing conference to Edinburgh.”

The European Cities Marketing Meeting 2019 will take place at The Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa Edinburgh; registrations to attend are now open and can be completed here.