Glasgow puts hipster foot forward as it launches new drive for incentive business

Glasgow Convention Bureau has launched a new campaign targeting the incentive market at IBTM World, one of the leading global events for the meetings, incentives, conferences and events industry.

This is a new target market for Glasgow which has to date, primarily focused on association conference business.

The Incentive travel market contributes an estimated £17m* to the Scottish economy and working with local tourism and hospitality businesses, this campaign aims to enhance Scotland’s current incentive offering and drive more Incentive trips to Glasgow.

Incentive trips have the highest delegate spend of any type of business event with, on average, over £1,500 spent per delegate in Scotland. By targeting this market, this campaign will help support the delivery of Glasgow’s Tourism and Visitor Plan to grow the city’s tourism economy by attracting one million more overnight visitors by 2023. New Incentive business will contribute to an associated spend of £771 million and an additional 6,600 jobs in the city.

Aileen Crawford, Head of Conventions at Glasgow Convention Bureau, said: “Glasgow is a vibrant cosmopolitan city which is bursting with energy, passion and personality. As a UNESCO City of Music, Scotland’s cultural powerhouse, one of the world’s best sporting cities, and home to an innovative food scene which celebrates Scotland’s exceptional natural larder, Glasgow truly offers so much more than traditional Scottish experiences. However, with Loch Lomond just 40 minutes from the city centre, incentive groups can enjoy the best of both, combining an urban adventure with an escape to the wilds of Scotland.”

Elaine Hamilton, Managing Director of Hello Scotland, said: “As a Glasgow-based DMC, we are delighted that the city is giving more serious focus to the incentive market. Glasgow can offer our incentive guests a contrasting experience to other areas across the country, meaning that companies can offer a huge variety of choice with Scotland as an incentive destination for their employees again and again – they can bring them to Glasgow and give them a whole new adventure. Team Hello Scotland are very excited to be on board with Next Stop Glasgow!”

Glasgow Convention Bureau has worked closely with Scottish Destination Management Companies, local businesses and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) to develop Glasgow’s unique positioning and enhanced offering for incentive clients. This has resulted in the creation of five key pillars:

Urban Adventure – there is an abundance of experiences which take advantage of the city’s cultural and sporting credentials
Move to the Beat – the city’s vast musical offering and iconic venues make Glasgow a must-visit destination for music lovers, providing incentive planners with unforgettable music experiences to incorporate into itineraries
Foodie Experiences – incentive clients can take over one of the city’s dedicated street food markets, step back in time and dine in the splendour of a bygone era in one of the city’s grand venues, get behind the scenes access to our distilleries and much more
Mackintosh Moments – Charles Rennie Mackintosh is regarded as one of the most creative figures of the 20^th century and left a legacy of magnificent work across the city. This is truly unique to Glasgow and incentive planners can incorporate experiences which utilise these assets into their itineraries
Escape to the Wilds of Scotland – incentive planners can complement city based experiences with something more rural and traditionally Scottish thanks to Glasgow’s proximity to Loch Lomond and Argyll & the Isles – these could potentially include private island dining, highland games, Scottish wildlife experiences and tours of world famous whisky distilleries.

Glasgow Convention Bureau has created a new section of its website to inspire incentive planners to choose Glasgow as their next incentive destination, as well as a film which incorporates these key themes. This has been produced by Glasgow agency The Forest of Black.