Meet Birmingham, the city’s official business tourism programme, is ensuring that its event visitors will get the most out of the city’s new transport links and facilities by enhancing its support package for organisers and delegates.

Meet Birmingham at International Confex 2013

Exhibiting this week at International Confex in London Meet Birmingham is working to introduce a more comprehensive package by doubling the services on offer; in response to infrastructure developments underway in the city and the increased demand that these projects will create.

The extension of this package follows the success of Meet Birmingham’s second annual Showcase event in November 2012, which is further driving interest in the city region’s venues.

The expansion of transport networks will open up the city region to a greater audience and make it easier for national and international industry professionals to use Birmingham for their events. These include the £600 million Birmingham New Street station redevelopment and Birmingham Airport’s £65 million runway extension – potentially offering direct routes to markets including China and the West Coast of the USA.

New sites including Paradise Circus, Resorts World Birmingham and the restoration of the city’s famous Grand Hotel will provide event organisers with a range of modern accommodation and facilities.

Ian Taylor, Commercial Director, Marketing Birmingham

Ian Taylor, Commercial Director at Marketing Birmingham, which operates Meet Birmingham, explained: “Birmingham is on the cusp of significant infrastructure changes, which will open up the city to new markets and business tourists. It is imperative that we demonstrate to organisers and their delegates that the city can provide an even more welcoming backdrop for their events.

“We are joining forces with a number of new partners, and are in discussions with more companies than ever before to offer the very best facilities and services for our visitors.”

Birmingham Convention Bureau’s substantial support package already includes venue location, social programme planning, exclusive city-wide discount vouchers and welcome branding. New features will include social media support, conference photography and transport packages.

Reflecting the demand for Birmingham as an event and conferencing destination, Meet Birmingham’s Showcase involved more than 50 hours of face-to-face meetings and 15 venue visits for 25 national buyers. The attendees collectively place over 15,000 events each year. Every buyer has confirmed they would consider Birmingham as a destination for their events as a result of the two-day Showcase, up from 74% on 2011, while nearly nine in ten (88%) said their impressions of the city had become more positive.

Speaking after the Showcase, Graham Robinson, Director of Venue Finder Solutions, commented: “It has been promising to see that Birmingham cares so much about conferencing and events and has a developing range of facilities, with excellent transport links both for the UK and overseas. The city is clearly investing for the future, both in the hotel sector and with its events facilities.”

Meet Birmingham is exhibiting at International Confex 2013 this week with six partners – The Belfry, Conference Aston, the International Convention Centre, thestudio, venuebirmingham and Warwick Castle on stand K182.

For more details on Birmingham’s presence at the exhibition and the city’s business tourism offering, visit www.meetbirmingham.com