The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) has "come full circle" since the onset of the pandemic to report record revenues and profits in 2023.
The venue, which recently hosted the three-week Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry, generated revenues of £12.8 million during the year to the end of December, up from £11.8m in 2022. Meanwhile, profits more than trebled from £699,000 to £2.6m.
Chief executive Marshall Dallas said the EICC kept its sales team intact throughout the pandemic, which "in retrospect was integral to our revenue performance last year because we were able to hit the ground running post-pandemic".
READ MORE: EICC hails 'strongest pipeline' of events
“After closing our doors in March 2020, we pivoted to become the city’s main vaccination centre the following year, and it felt fitting to have the recent Covid inquiry here in the same building," he said.
"In addition to being a commercial enterprise, hosting events of this nature fulfils our triple bottom line objectives of having a strong economic value, leading the way in sustainability, and positively impacting societal matters.”
The EICC's economic impact totalled £58m last year, versus £51.9m previously. Total economic impact since the EICC opened its doors in 1995 is now at approximately £850m.
The venue, which is run at arm's length by City of Edinburgh Council, hosted more than 132,000 delegates and visitors during the year compared to 72,000 previously. A total of 18 international associations held major conferences at the EICC in 2023, among them the Global Equity Organisation’s 24th annual conference in April, the 15th World Congress on Endometriosis in May, and HYDRO 2023 in October.
“Holding large international association conferences is a significant part of our raison d’être, and in the current year we already have twenty-one international conferences confirmed to take place, so that’s a really encouraging number for us and for business tourism in general in Edinburgh and Scotland," Mr Dallas added.
In December, the EICC announced a string of major conference wins over the next three years that will equate to its strongest ever pipeline of events business. The 40 conferences and events will bring around 20,000 delegates to Edinburgh and the EICC and translates to approximately £32m of economic impact.
Two of the major international association conferences taking place this year at the EICC are the World Congress on Controversies in Breast Cancer in September, and the 36th International Papillomavirus Conference in November.
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