BVEP welcomes Ministerial Support Initiative for events

The Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP) has welcomed the support from outgoing minister for tourism Hugh Robertson before the ministerial reshuffle this month.

Simon Gidman, head of business visits and events at Visit England
Simon Gidman, head of business visits and events at Visit England

The initiative led by Visit England, aims to help the UK event industry win more international business.The idea behind it is that any event organiser - whether working on events in the automotive or the medical sector - can approach VisitEngland to ask for government help in supporting their event - be it by writing letters or other forms of departmental support.

The BVEP described the initiative as its priority following its Subvention and Bid Support Practices report in 2011.

It will be managed through Visit England working with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and will be applicable to international congress and convention bids.

The tourist board has now established a working process alongside the DCMS, which was confirmed before Robertson took up his new role in the Foreign Office.

Simon Gidman, head of business visits and events at Visit England, said: "The support of ministers can have a major impact on the winning of major convention business.

"In partnership with England's leading event destinations, we are targeting international events from our priority economic sectors including life sciences, energy, engineering and the creative industries.

"These events bring together thought-leaders from around the globe and we want to ensure those influential leaders are discussing and debating the latest issues in their field in England - as well as spending their money in our towns and cities."

Michael Hirst, chair of the BVEP, said: "As sports and tourism minister Hugh Robertson understood how important ministerial involvement has been recently in attracting world-class events."

Helen Grant, Robertson’s successor, added: "We will continue to work in partnership with Visit England and other stakeholders to see where government can play a role in supporting event bids from UK destinations."

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