We know that Edinburgh is the best city in the best country in the world. But we have to keep on telling other people about it.
That is what Marketing Edinburgh does and now it has come up with a new marketing campaign which was launched at the Museum on Thursday night.
The campaign will bring Edinburgh to the forefront of the minds of business tourists, those people who attend conferences and meetings and need to have somewhere to hold them. A destination such as Edinburgh has many hotels and conference venues big and small but now the single cohesive strategy has been unveiled to attract people here for future events.
We have many new airline routes connecting Edinburgh direct with many more places across the world. Rob Lang, Head of Marketing, Edinburgh Airport said: “With 188 routes from 130 destinations, Edinburgh is better connected today than ever before. There’s no better time to showcase how simple it is for delegates and organisers to arrange events here in Edinburgh. ‘Make it Edinburgh’ puts accessibility at the heart of the campaign.”
Amanda Ferguson, Head of Business Tourism at Convention Edinburgh said: “Edinburgh has been criticised in the past for not being as ‘joined up’ as other competitor cities, but this campaign will prove otherwise. Never before has the city undertaken a marketing campaign on this scale, bringing together private sector partners, working collaboratively through Marketing Edinburgh, the city’s Destination Marketing Organisation.
“The message we aim to promote is that Edinburgh is synonymous with innovation, discovery and thinking, a rich history of heritage, full of inspiring locations, buildings and people. Hence conference organisers should ‘Make it Edinburgh’. The campaign gives us a powerful collective voice that will help us develop our business tourism offering and promote Edinburgh’s world leading Centres of Excellence.”
COLLABORATION
The campaign is a collaboration between both public and private bodies who already work in the conference business, but who realised that it needed a shot in the arm. £40,000 has bee contributed from the VisitScotland Growth Fund along with match funding from Convention Edinburgh, Edinburgh Hotel Association, Edinburgh Airport, Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Tourism Action Group.
The campaign will run for 12 months and will showcase six priority sectors where Edinburgh excels : Technology, Life Sciences, Creative Industries, Food and Drink, Renewable Energy and Financial Services.
Designed to push back against competition from other cities as well as the potential risks which come from Brexit and independence this campaign will help to reduce any effects from such challenges.
‘Make it Edinburgh’ will also align with VisitScotland’s Business Events’ soon to launch national business events campaign, Legends. By focusing on Edinburgh’s leading sectors, ‘Make it Edinburgh’ can seamlessly integrate with VisitScotland’s planned activation and the Scottish Government’s 2020 Tourism Strategy Delivery Group.
Neil Brownlee, Head of Business Events at VisitScotland, said: “Business events are vital to the Scottish economy and are an integral way of promoting this country as a place to live, work, visit and invest. With its wealth of world-class venues, attractions and expertise, Edinburgh has a huge amount to offer the meetings industry and we are delighted to support this exciting new marketing campaign through the VisitScotland Growth Fund.”
Convention Edinburgh and its partners secured 114 meetings for the city last year, generating over £74 million for the local economy. With the majority of meetings and conferences taking place in the quieter shoulder months, business tourism is a key economic driver for the city, benefiting not only venues and accommodations providers, but a wide range of local businesses including restaurants, taxi companies, florists and photographers.
Second only to London in the UK for international conferences, and ranked 27th in the ICCA Global City Index, Edinburgh’s worldwide reputation as a business tourism destination is widely recognised. A compact city that is easily walkable and accessible, Edinburgh offers unique combination of rich heritage assets and stunning architecture, paired with an unrivalled knowledge base generated from the city’s four universities and research hubs.
For more information on Edinburgh as a business tourism destination, visit: www.makeitedinburgh.com or follow @conventions on Twitter andwww.linkedin.com/company/edinburgh-convention-bureau
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
