Four international associations have selected Edinburgh as the host city for conventions that will attract thousands of delegates from around the world. Winning the events in the face of tough global competition is a major coup for Edinburgh Convention Bureau Ltd, (ECB) launched October 19 as a new joint venture limited company responsible for marketing Scotland’s capital as a premier business tourism destination.

The four conferences, focussing on areas of engineering, public health, medical research and dentistry, will bring more than 4000 business tourists to the city and generate at least £4 million for the local economy. The most recent success means conferences worth £26 million to Edinburgh have already been won this year putting the new organisation on target to surpass the £37 million of anticipated economic benefit associated with events secured last year.

These latest achievements of Edinburgh Convention Bureau Ltd were revealed at a special reception to launch the new-style ECB which was previously the business tourism division of the former Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board.

A review of Scotland’s tourism industry earlier this year by the Scottish Executive recognised the increasingly competitive nature of the business tourism and convention market and recommended the establishment of a specialist Edinburgh -focussed organisation to attract major conferences to the city.

The ECB joint venture partners are the City of Edinburgh Council and Visit Scotland. The new company will also have the continued support of Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian.

VisitScotland is investing £100,000 in the joint venture but will also continue to market Edinburgh as a conference centre around the world – along with other key destinations. This includes featuring Edinburgh in all VisitScotland’s Business Tourism Unit materials and events and supporting a wide range of initiatives including bid support.

Tourism Minister Patricia Ferguson said: “The impact of business tourism cannot be underestimated, generating almost £1 billion for the Scottish economy each year.” “Edinburgh is gaining a world-wide reputation as a top quality business events destination. This initiative has the potential to raise its profile even higher, and it is a model that I hope to see replicated in other parts of Scotland.”

Sue Stuart, Chief Executive of ECB, said: “Attracting these four new events confirms the continued success of Edinburgh’s standing as a leading conference city. The creation of the new company means we can raise Edinburgh’s status even further as a centre of business excellence and gives us the winning edge to successfully promote Scotland’s capital city around the world.”

She added: “The competition for a share of this £40 billion a year global industry continues to increase. More and more cities around the world are aware of the benefits that flow from this fastest growing sector of tourism and want a share. We can’t afford to rest on our laurels. The flexibility of our new structure enables us to work closely with VisitScotland, the local authority and other agencies to more effectively profile Edinburgh as a dynamic and innovative premier convention location capable of meeting the demands of the 21st century delegate.”

Councillor Donald Wilson, Chair of the Edinburgh and Lothians Area Tourism Partnership, said: “High profile conferences such as these help Edinburgh affirm its position as one of the most popular conference cities in the world. Business visits are an essential element of the city’s tourism sector, generating around £170 million to the local economy each year. The Edinburgh Convention Bureau has played a massive role in securing our position of second only to London as the most popular conference city in the UK and one of the top conference destinations in the world. This new partnership between the Council, VisitScotland and the industry will help ensure this important element of the city’s tourism sector goes from strength to strength.”

Ben Carter, Area Director for VisitScotland Edinburgh and Lothians said: “Business tourism isn’t just about getting people here for conferences and events – it’s also about providing huge spin-off benefits to the city. Not only do many of the delegates return as leisure visitors, they also help to spread the word about Edinburgh to their friends and family. Edinburgh is in the fortunate position of being able to give people a real flavour of the city while they stay here because of the close proximity of good restaurants, shopping and visitor attractions.”

Susan Watson, head of SE Edinburgh and Lothian’s tourism team added: “Business tourists account for a large part of the overall visitor numbers to Edinburgh throughout the year, generating significant expenditure in the hospitality, retail and tourism sectors. Conferences, such as those announced today, help to raise Edinburgh’s international profile amongst business people working in a range of industry sectors across the world, helping to attract new highly skilled mobile workers to live and work in the capital.

One of the keys to the success of ECB, which has helped rank Edinburgh as one of the world’s most popular conference destinations, is the Edinburgh Ambassadors Programme.

This initiative matches recognised leaders in the city’s many areas of academic and commercial excellence with the professional marketing support of ECB staff who together work as a team to help them bring their international association’s conference to Edinburgh.

Research has shown that any conference bid supported by a local specialist boosts the chances of success by 75%. Since 1996 the Ambassadors programme has helped bring more than 200 major events to Edinburgh worth £87 million to the economy. The four new conferences were all won with through the Ambassadors Programme.