GLASGOW is racing ahead of Edinburgh in a bid to capitalise on events linked to the London 2012 Olympics.
The Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre in Glasgow recently won a contract to play host to an Olympics-linked event that will welcome 3,000 delegates. It is expected to generate more than £5 million for the city's economy.
Ben Goedegebuure, d
irector of sales for the SECC, said the International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport, to take place in Glasgow in July 2012, was an "important" win as the conference centre continues to target business alongside the Glasgow City Centre Marketing Bureau.
"This is about us being proactive in how we approach our market. It is not about London being full," said Goedegebuure.
Goedegebuure is the only Scottish representative to join the steering committee of the 2012 Event Industry Development Group, which was set up to look at how the events industry could benefit from the games. The experience will also give the venue's management better insight into the sort of business that will be driven by Glasgow's Commonwealth Games two years later in 2014.
"It is to look at what 2012 will deliver for venues, and what 2014 will do for us.
"It is to look what we might pick up from what is being put in place at the moment," said Goedegebuure
"I am there to pick up anything that might be an opportunity for Glasgow and promote our role in business tourism to an international audience, to see what is out there and how we might benefit. The spotlight will definitely be on London in 2012 and good for them. But let's take something from that as well. Let's have some of it," he added.
Glasgow, which is a regional host city for the London Olympics, has signed up Hampden Park to host ten football matches between 26 July–6 August 2012 including men's and women's matches. It may also host a quarter or semi final of the Olympic competition.
A spokesman for Edinburgh City Council said there were a number of projects going ahead to promote the capital ahead of the 2012 games, including the possibility of another "gathering" style event, similar to this year's Homecoming.
EICC head of events Karen Wood said: "We see the games as a great opportunity to target the cultural and business events that are associated with the main sporting programme and our experience tells us we will share in the economic benefit that is coming Scotland's way in 2012."
A VisitScotland spokesman said: "The 2012 Olympic Games have the potential to generate tourism opportunities for Scotland and we're already working on plans to persuade visitors to finish off their visit to the Games with a trip north of the Border to enjoy what Scotland has to offer."
The SECC will report its annual results this month, and Goedegebuure said the venue has "been doing well". Although international conferences were down, concerts and corporate events have been steady.
"One of the biggest headaches of the conference side of the business is people holding off on signing until the last minute. That is a general feature of the economy," he said.
Goedegebuure said there is a "slightly more positive environment now" for events bookings. "Everyone is not as freaked out as they were a year ago."
