October, 2007. Please find below three press releases from Glasgow City Marketing Bureau: Glasgow Launches 10 Year Tourism Strategy To Attract 1 Billion Revenue And Four Million Visitors Glasgow Promises More Trail Blazing Technolgy Innovations New University Facilities Are Top Of The Class Glasgow Launches 10 Year Tourism Strategy To Attract 1 Billion Revenue And Four Million Visitors Glasgow has launched its ambitious plans for a decade long development of its tourist industry to continue its success as a world class city and destination, and bring 1billion to its economy every year. Glasgow's Tourism Strategy sets out a clear direction for the city's tourism industry that will bring an expected four million visitors a year to Glasgow by 2016. With global tourism expected to grow at 4% a year, this would mean the sector would generate 1 billion in annual revenue for the city. Councillor Steven Purcell, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: "The tourist industry has played an important role in the regeneration of Glasgow over the past two decades, and this strategy will help take the city's performance to another level over the next ten years by continuing to grow the city's international profile. The industry already supports a significant number of jobs, with as many people working in the tourism industry in Glasgow, as in the financial, health and retail sectors. The strategy identifies the key elements necessary for growing the city's tourism profile and employment base for future, and we will continue to work closely with our partners to ensure Glasgow maintains a prominent place in the global marketplace." The projected growth in tourism is expected to bring another 9,000 tourism related jobs to Glasgow and create demand for a further 3,000 hotel beds in the city. Development of Glasgow's Tourism Strategy has been led, in partnership with the private sector, by the four main agencies in Glasgow with a remit for tourism development Glasgow City Council, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and VisitScotland. Glasgow's tourism industry has played a significant role in the city's economic growth. Through the success of landmark events such as 1990
European City of Culture, 1999 UK City of Architecture and Design, the reopening of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, UEFA Cup and Champions League Finals along with massive investment in new infrastructure, improved connections from mainland Europe and international cities, Glasgow has become a highly regarded and desirable place to visit. And now, with the infrastructure developments currently in the pipeline and a more strategic focus, Glasgow has the capability and energy to deliver a true step change in tourism performance by 2016. During the lifetime of the Tourism Strategy, Glasgow aims to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014, open the new Riverside Museum and SECC Arena, and deliver a major events strategy. Glasgow will meet aspirations by delivering a quality tourist experience characterised by:. Must see attractions;. World class infrastructure;. Seamless transport connectivity;. Events of international significance; supported by. First class service from a well trained workforce; and. A clean, well maintained and sustainable public realm In addition, further investment in the brand Glasgow: Scotland with style will reinforce Glasgow's reputation as a unique visitor and conference location. Glasgow Promises More Trail Blazing Technology Innovations Glasgow has played a trailblazing role when it comes to introducing new technology to the conference industry and Scotland's biggest city is promising more to come in the next 12 months. In June, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB) became the first convention bureau in the world to broadcast the proceedings of a conference the IEEE International Conference on Communications live on its website. More than 400 high tech enthusiasts were able to follow the opening proceedings of the conference through the GCMB website. Six years ago, Glasgow chalked up another high tech milestone when its convention bureau became the first to submit a conference bid online when the city won the International Crustacean Congress. Alexandra Redmond, head of ICT at GCMB, said the company was looking at producing vodcasts videocasts of conference proceedings that delegates can download onto their ipods and listen to at their leisure. And GCMB is hoping
to provide more live webcasts of conferences if professional conference organisers are enthusiastic about the service. She said: "We have always been at the leading edge of technology to add value to our marketing activities. We did the world's first online bid and now these are commonplace, and we will be looking at how we can make these bids more interactive. Watch this space for more developments." The Convention Bureau section of GCMB's website www.seeglasgow.com has been comprehensively updated to make it much easier to navigate, with bespoke sections for convention and congress organisers, corporate and incentive planners, delegates, Ambassador programme members, and members and partners. The number of monthly page views on www.seeglasgow.com has grown from 800,000 last June to 1.8 million today, while page views for the Convention Bureau section of the website have more than trebled in the same period to 25,000 per month. This year, GCMB won the inaugural chairman's award in the prestigious Drum Awards for Digital Industries (DADI). Phil Jones, chair of the judging panel at the DADI awards, said: "The chairman's award was given to Glasgow City Marketing Bureau's www.seeglasgow.com because it promotes Glasgow to visitors so well, but it is also used by residents. It is easy to navigate, it shows the best parts of Glasgow, and its effectiveness, in terms of the number of users and page impressions, is astonishing." GCMB has continued to innovate, this year introducing a comprehensive and interactive shopping guide http://www2.seeglasgow.com/shopping/index.html split into different neighbourhoods, with maps and links straight to the websites of most of the shops. There are other sections covering areas such as places to visit, art and antiques, specialist stores, designer boutiques, books and music and cafes and restaurants. Glasgow has set the pace in recent years when it comes to new technology, and as Alexandra says watch this space for more! New University Facilities are Top of the Class Glasgow's three universities have unveiled new conference facilities, or upgraded venues that can be used for pre and post meeting drinks receptions. At Strathclyde University, the Graham Hills cluster is a lecture theatre for 199, a seminar room for 90, and four other seminar rooms which can seat
56, 30, 25 and 25 people. The seminar rooms are located around a centralarea suitable for coffee, buffet lunches and poster sessions. Although it formally opened in 2006, this year was the first time it was open all summer for internal and external conferences. In 2010, the university is opening new state of the art conference facilities in the Jordanhill Building in George Street, which will house the Faculty of Education. Glasgow Caledonian University's new meetings complex will be officially opened in October by HRH the Princess Royal. Offering 16 rooms, catering from 24 to 76 delegates, plus communal areas all with access to WI FI and the most modern technology the Continuing Professional Development Centre can be hired out for meetings outside of semester time and on evenings and weekends. The new centre has transformed the former library as part of an ongoing multi million pound campus development programme that also created the award winning Saltire Learning Centre. The historic Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery at Glasgow University re opened this year after a major refurbishment. Situated within the university's magnificent gothic cloisters, the Hunterian Scotland's oldest public museum is a superb venue that can cater for receptions of up to 300 people. his summer a new dining and bar area in the old part of the university has opened that is being marketed for conference dinners. One A The Square, a former private staff club, has been refurbished and features a bar, dining and dance areas. The dining area can seat 100 people, and the venue can host 175 people at maximum capacity. Further information from: Caroline Gray Public Relations Manager Glasgow City Marketing Bureau Tel: 0141 566 0832 Email: caroline.gray@seeglasgow.com (or)
Stephen Breen Convention Bureau Public Relations Glasgow City Marketing Bureau Tel: +44 (0) 141 566 0833 Email: stephen.breen@seeglasgow.com