Glasgow’s recent announcement that it was going ‘green’ in terms of building a sustainable business events focus is a welcome step for a city determined to burnish its global reputation for environmental responsibility.
But it was also a smart move for the specific targeting of an environmental business sector – whose events are more likely to come to the city by the Clyde if it can demonstrate its credentials are more than just paying lip service to a cause that many are keen to espouse.
The approach was outlined at a recent networking event at the Lighthouse in the city, where Aileen Crawford, Head of Conventions at Glasgow Convention Bureau, summed it up in a presentation, which showed that the city is on course to reduce its carbon footprint by 30% by 2028.
“That’s helped us win 20 conferences from 2016 to 2018 in the low carbon field and that’s really what’s this is all about as we turn the city’s credentials into winning business,” she told delegates from across the city’s business events sector.
“Those 20 conferences are worth over £23m to the economy and that’s now a huge focus of our research. It’s important to show that the city has gone from steam to green over the last couple of hundred years,” she added.
Such conference wins have included the 38th Euroheat & Power Congress, attended by nearly 500 overseas delegates, which took place this month at SEC. Crawford highlighted also how Glasgow was ranked seventh among cities on the Global Destination Sustainability Index – the only UK city to feature.
The networking event last Friday kicked off with an overview from Susan Deighan, Chief Operating Officer for Glasgow Life. She said: “Business events are crucial to maintaining the city’s tourism industry and help reinforce the city’s economic strengths. Whether it’s life sciences, whether it’s new energy sources, our ability to work with the academic community and economic sectors is underpinned by our world-class ambassador programme.
She added: “The combination of ‘Team Glasgow’ working with our key economic sectors and our universities’ academic communities will enable us to build our business tourism credentials.”
- Many of the ambitions have been outlined in Glasgow’s Tourism and Visitor Plan to 2023.
- They include growing overall tourism from 2m to 3m per year and in spend terms from £472m to £771m
- The target for conference wins in 2017/18 is £140m
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