'Record year' for EICC as convention centre nears 100,000 delegate mark

The number of delegates attending a conference at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre last year approached the 100,000 mark as the venue smashed its previous record for business events.

Ninety-four thousand delegates attended the captil’s convention centre in 2017, up from 91,000 the previous year, new figures have shown.

Data released on behalf of the venue showed that around 200 business events were hosted bringing an estimated £55m in economic impact to the city, versus £51.6m in 2016.

Operating profits rose to £1.2m – versus £640,000 in 2016 – and figures show the venue has since its opening now brought around £600m to the local economy, hosting over one million delegates and 3,000 events.

Marshall Dallas, CEO of the EICC, said: “Our collective desire to create not only the most sustainable conference venue in the world, but also an environment that encourages the formulation of ideas that change the world has paid dividends as we experienced another record year in 2017 in which we welcomed more events and delegates to the EICC than ever before.”

The EICC benefited from more UK and international Associations and conferences heading to Edinburgh – including the European Robotics Forum, the Microbiology Society Annual Conference and the Institute for New Economic Thinking – and highlights included Barack Obama making his first keynote speech outside the US since leaving the White House in when the former US President addressed over a thousand business and political leaders at the venue in May. The event was organised by the city event specialists Lux Events.

Sustainability remains high on the agenda at the EICC and in November Scotland’s leading conference venue was chosen as one of eleven organisations across the world to receive a prestigious SEAL Business Sustainability Award, joining Bridgestone, Office Depot and Arm as one of the inaugural award winners.

In addition to its drive to become one of the most sustainable conference venues on the planet, the EICC launched a new mission statement in 2017 that was influenced by Barack Obama’s appearance with a vision “to create an environment which inspires ideas that change the world.”