Business visitors to the Britain pavilion at IMEX (Frankfurt, 19-21 April 2005) will be invited to dine with George Clooney as VisitBritain positions the UK as an A-list destination for meetings, incentives travel and events.

This year, VisitBritain – the authority for tourism in Britain – has joined forces with London’s Madame Tussauds – who encourage visitors to dine with their new Clooney waxwork – and 28 other partners. An enlarged stand (B350) accommodates the increasing number of tourism organisations interested in attracting the valuable business visitor.

Jeremy Brinkworth, VisitBritain’s Head of Business Tourism, said:

“With easy accessibility from all parts of the world and the ongoing commercial regeneration of its capitals and regional cities, Britain offers centuries of heritage, inspiring countryside, world-class events and unique cultural experiences. Business visitors will discover exclusive experiences as part of incentive programmes, unusual accommodation and meeting places, and venues with state-of-the-art facilities for exhibitions and conferences.

“7 million international visitors came to Britain on a business trip in 2003 and spent £3.4 billion while they were here. IMEX is the ideal opportunity for us to increase business visits from around the world and remind attendees of the unique, quality experiences to be enjoyed in Britain and so help grow our tourism industry towards £100 billion by 2010.”

Attendees planning a trip will be given a unique passport to Britain to help them discover all that VisitBritain’s partners have to offer. The passport offers the chance to win a trip to Britain and an instant prize of a branded USB memory stick to help delegates store all the information they will be gathering on their laptops and PDAs. The ‘Britain for Technology’ presentation included on the memory stick showcases VisitBritain’s partners and their technological facilities and services.

Activity will also drive attendees to the dedicated website, www.visitbritain.com/business, for all the help and advice they need to plan meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions throughout Britain.

Partners in the Britain Pavilion for 2005 include:

More than 12,000 industry professionals from over 130 countries attend IMEX 2005, where they can sample a selection of British food on the stand, including afternoon tea and a variety of cheeses. A costumed interpreter will give short and informative talks about all that Britain offers for the business visitor.