Visit London unveiled its new look and successfully showcased the city as an inspirational incentive and events destination at EIBTM 2006.

The feedback from all of the 25 stand partners was very positive with solid enquiries and projected business predicted for 2007 and beyond.

Barbara Jamison, Sales Manager Europe for Visit London said: “We took over 40 enquiries with an average value of over £130K.

The economic impact of our participation at EIBTM this year is £6 Million worth of enquiries. Once our follow-up work is completed we expect this figure to be nearer to £10million, which is more than double the figure from last year’s attendance.

This rise demonstrates the strengthening of the London brand, the quality of product and expertise in the city and the growing demand for London. These results are testament to the hard work and commitment of Visit London and our partners within this industry.”

The largest enquiry taken on the London Pavilion was from a French company planning an event for 1000 delegates in 2010 with an estimated economic impact for London of nearly £1million.

Enquiries came from all over the world and most of the corporate sectors represented with companies in Banking & Insurance; Food & Drink; Hair & Beauty and Pharmaceutical, all thinking of coming to London for their forthcoming events.

Sue Bertram, Head of Association Sales for Visit London explained:  “Visit London took a brief on the stand from a North American buyer. We emailed it back to our office and as a result, there will be a site inspection, and an event for 800 people in 2008 confirmed hopefully before the end of this year.”
Bill Prosser of DMC, Competitive Edge said: “We were very impressed with the diversity and quality of the buyers that EIBTM delivered to us this year. In addition to our usual European and US markets we had briefs from regions that would normally be very difficult for us to penetrate – including Colombia, South Africa and Dubai. With the support of the organisers and Visit London we were able to meet as many quality buyers in a few days at EIBTM as in 12 months of our normal sales activity.”

Visit London also unveiled the final picture of its international photographic competition “New Look on London” that asks the industry to identify some unique angles of London venues and landmarks. The competition generated nearly 100 entries on the stand and attracted high quality buyers who were looking to discover Visit London’s unique and unusual venues and destinations. The winner will be announced in the first quarter of 2007.

The event was also the selected platform to present the new London Event Planner’s Guide 2007, the official directory to London’s meeting, incentive, conference and event facilities.

Visit London, MPI and ExCeL London encouraged buyers to unlock their potential as budding artists with an artistic themed evening during the show, in celebration of the forthcoming MPI PEC-E in London in 2008.