The Edinburgh International Conference Centre has secured three major conferences for 2021, as the venue continues to implement extensive health and wellbeing measures in readiness for safely welcoming delegates back next year.
The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine is set to take place in September 2021, Cleantech Forum Europe in October 2021 and the Society for Endocrinology in November 2021.
Marshall Dallas, EICC chief executive, said: “It would be a huge understatement to say we are looking forward to the return of conferences next year, particularly in light of the challenging time our team has faced since the pandemic took hold and we closed doors at the venue back in March."
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He went on: "There are typically long lead times in the conference and events industry, so we relish the opportunity to plan ahead for these three major conferences, and we continue to take bookings for large scale conferences for late 2021 and into 2022.
“What is going to be key going forward, is the rapid and successful implementation of the vaccine. We are confident we will see more UK conferences and events feed through next year, with a fuller return to international conferences in 2022. We also know that business events will be a key driver in rebooting the Scottish economy as we come out of the pandemic.”
Richard Youngman, chief executive of Cleantech Group, said: “We are delighted to be bringing Cleantech Forum Europe, Europe’s leading sustainable innovation event, to the EICC in Edinburgh in 2021. It’s good timing since Scotland will also host the postponed COP-26 next year. Our innovation-focused forum, a generator of climate solutions, has not been in the UK, Europe’s largest venture capital market, since 2006.”
Rob Lawson, chairman of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine, said: “The influence of lifestyle medicine is increasingly accepted as an essential component for addressing the growing impact of avoidable 21st century disease globally. The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine is pleased to be bringing its 5th annual international conference to the EICC on its 25th anniversary.”
Mr Dallas also said: “Healthcare, health technology and CleanTech are among the greatest societal issues for the world as we approach the end of 2020, so it’s fitting we have these important conferences in place next year. It also squares with our mission to create an environment to inspire ideas that change the world.”
The EICC, which has been running online events since lockdown, came into 2020, the year of its 25th anniversary, on the back of a record year in 2019 and has produced economic impact of over £720 million since opening its doors in September 1995.
During that time, 3500 events have been held at the venue with total delegate numbers standing at 1,475,892.
In September, Mr Dallas won the “IoD Scotland Director of the Year - Small to Medium Business” award, with the judging panel stating they were “Impressed with Marshall’s commitment to staff and team development”.
In March, the EICC led an announcement on the go-ahead for a pioneering hotel and hotel school development in Edinburgh.
M&G Real Estate is funding the £350 million Haymarket Edinburgh development which will be developed by QMile Group. The completed hotel will be operated by the EICC under a franchise agreement with Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
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