Five new appointments have been made to the London Convention Bureau (LCB) advisory committee, the body that ensures that London Tourist Board is in tune with the commercial and strategic concerns of its convention bureau membership.  

Kirk Albrow, chief executive of the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre; David Hornby, director of marketing and events at Thistle Hotels; Mark Vernon, conference general manager at Imperial College; Michael Shannon, hotel manager of the Sheraton Belgravia and Ian Lovat Fraser, general manager conference and events of the Natural History Museum and chairman of Unique Venues of London attended their first meeting on October 7.

Along with the other 12 committee members they discussed strategic issues such as the delivery of meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition (MICE) business to London and the direction of LCB’s competitive strategy.

The meeting was also used as an opportunity to gather feedback from the industry in London on business trends. Mady Keup, head of LCB, said:

“The advisory committee keeps LCB close to the industry’s needs so we are better able to carry out our advocacy role. Vanessa Cotton as a non executive director on the LTB board chairs the meetings, providing feedback to the LTB board. A recent success has been the recognition of business tourism in the Mayor’s tourism plan and the fact that the London Development Agency is now scoping the potential for an international convention centre for the city.”