Edinburgh International
Convention Centre’s (EICC) academic advisory board, Exchange Initiative, has
helped to secure 40 conferences for the region which will take place over the
next 36 months.
With these conference wins, including the 36th
International Papillomavirus Conference in November 2024; and the Society for
Cardiothoracic Surgery in GB & Ireland in March 2025, the EICC is
expecting its strongest ever pipeline of events business, equating to £32
million in economic impact and 20,000 delegates.
EICC CEO Marshall Dallas said: “It’s pleasing to see the first
conference wins coming directly from our Exchange Initiative.”
The EICC launched the Exchange Initiative in 2022, aimed at
raising the city’s international profile, highlighting world-class research coming out
of Scotland’s university sector, and driving association conference business.
“We are proud to host some of the world’s top conferences from
industries spanning environmental and engineering, health and bioscience,
technology, and education set for Edinburgh over the next few years, with over
50 per cent of these large association conferences coming from outside the UK. That’s
great news not only for us, but for Edinburgh and the region.”
Further strengthening Edinburgh’s position as a major meetings
destination, Convention Edinburgh, under the guardianship of the EICC,
relaunched its own ambassador programme in October 2023. The programme will bring
together Edinburgh’s academic talent and event industry professionals to form a
network of ambassadors championing the city as a destination for academia and
events.
In June 2022, Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that it has
entered a franchise agreement with the EICC for a 350-bedroom Hyatt Centric
hotel in the Haymarket area of the city. Slated to open in mid-2025, the property will be the first Hyatt hotel in Scotland.
