Liverpool has seen a strong bounce back in international association events thanks, in part, to a thriving ambassador programme.
In coming years, the Arena and Convention Centre (ACC)
Liverpool will welcome 19 international conferences including the European Calcified
Tissue Society, the European Society of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology (ESPO)
and the Royal College of Psychiatrists International Congress, taking place in
April, May and July next year.
The city’s Club Liverpool Ambassador Programme, a network of
Liverpool academics and professionals who volunteer their time to help bid for
conferences to be hosted in the Liverpool City Region, contributed successfully
to securing these upcoming conferences.
Back in 2014, the Club Liverpool Ambassador Programme assisted professor Ray Clarke, president-elect of ESPO, in the bid process to bring
the conference to the city. Clarke said: “It has been a comprehensive process
over the past eight years to bring our conference to Liverpool, having just
missed out on our initial bid and then rescheduling our event from 2020 due to
the pandemic.
“It will be the first time we’ve met face to face in five
years when we head to Liverpool in May next year. We have received huge support
from the city, Club Liverpool and ACC Liverpool to finally get us to this stage
and we are very much looking forward to coming to the city.”
ACC Liverpool director of conference and exhibition sales, Adrian
Evans, said: “ACC Liverpool is one of the main drivers of economic impact for
local and regional businesses, with a wider reaching economic benefit than just
the conference itself. It is really encouraging to see major international
organisations choosing Liverpool to host their conferences.”
Future international events at ACC Liverpool include the
International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology in 2025
and the IRPA European Congress 2026 (International Radiation Protection Association).
Elsewhere across the city, the International Conference on
Fluvial Hydraulics (RiverFlow) will take place at Liverpool John Moores
University in September 2024.
Meanwhile, the city will welcome hundreds of thousands of
international visitors when it hosts the Eurovision song contest in May next
year.
Evans added: “Eurovision will help to further cement
Liverpool’s reputation as a truly international destination.”
Across the MICE sector, ACC Liverpool has seen overperformance
in the number of total enquiries compared to the same period in 2019 with their
value up by 26 per cent.
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
