Birmingham voted top events destination outside London

Birmingham has been chosen as the top UK events destination outside London for the third year in a row, according to an in-depth study of the views of more than 600 British event organisers by The British Meetings & Events Industry Survey 2011/12 (BMEIS).

This is further good news for Live Recruitment’s customers. As we’re based in the heart of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, we’re often the first port of call for Midlands event recruiters and people seeking new jobs in the events sector.

Nearly half of organisers, in both the corporate and association sectors, have used Birmingham as a destination for a conference, meeting or business event in the last twelve months. That puts the city ahead of Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow.

The survey also revealed that many organisations now favour smaller, shorter and more regional events, with city centre hotels topping the preferred venue type, “value for money” influencing venue selection, and social media playing a significant role in event organisation.

Ian Taylor, Commercial Director at Marketing Birmingham, which operates Birmingham’s business tourism programme Meet Birmingham, said, “This year’s survey findings confirm Birmingham as the UK’s natural meeting place.

“Our enviable location at the heart of the country and the variety of our great value venues are frequently highlighted by our delegates as major draws.

“We are continuing to build on this growing reputation by hosting the Meet Birmingham Showcase event in November, bringing together leading organisations to highlight the city’s key venues, hotels and event support suppliers.”

Birmingham’s leisure and business tourism offering is set to further improve over the coming year with additions to the city’s 28,600 bed spaces including the opening of Hotel La Tour, Hotel Indigo and Hampton by Hilton. A series of new developments is also in the offing, including Resorts World at the NEC and the New Street Gateway.

[image courtesy tareth.co.uk]

 

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2 Responses to “Birmingham voted top events destination outside London”

1. furniture hire london says:

   October 24, 2011 at 11:23 am

   Really interesting article, i have been in the events industry for just over a year now but never realized how popular birmingham is for events and exhibitions.
   • Simon says:

     October 25, 2011 at 4:04 pm

     Thanks for your comment! Yes, Birmingham’s really buzzing and we have loads of great events jobs we need to fill.