Published by Neil ThompsonTo celebrate Liverpool as our Destination of the Month, our first 'Event prof of Liverpool' interview is with Liverpool Convention Bureau's Head of Business Tourism, Jennifer Jensen. We grabbed a few minutes in Jenny's busy schedule to find out a bit more about her role and what's happening in Liverpool
DW: Hi Jen, we are so excited for Liverpool to be our Destination of the Month, as it is our home city and so proud to share everything that it has to offer, do you want to start be telling us a little bit about your role with Liverpool Convention Bureau?
JJ: I have been working at Liverpool Convention Bureau for just over 7 years and it’s been an incredibly varied and exciting role. I am responsible for driving forward business tourism across Liverpool City Region with my wonderful team who do an incredible job.
We offer a venue finding and accommodation bookings service for conference and events organisers looking to host meetings and events in Liverpool City Region. We manage the ambassador programme, Club Liverpool alongside our partners ACC Liverpool which has successfully delivered £79million in Economic Impact since its inception in 2016 and have a fantastic pipeline of bids that we are working on. We are also out and about, promoting Liverpool to a global audience as a great place for meeting and events working with VisitBritain and other partners.
I am also the self-appointed Sustainability lead for Marketing Liverpool – pushing everyone to become more sustainable in the work we do. I’m so delighted we have just been awarded the Most Improved Destination Award at the GDS Awards out of 100 other destinations globally.
DW: It’s a really exciting time in Liverpool now right, the city is thriving and has so much to offer groups, do you want to tell us a bit about what makes Liverpool so special?
JJ: I think the people are the city region’s best asset and we know from testimonials from clients that everyone who hosts an event here has a really positive experience. Our region’s vast array of diverse offers from coastal beauty to bustling city, from traditional heritage to tech-savvy modern – there are so many venues and experiences to suit all tastes and budgets. As a UNESCO City of Music we can help ensure that you have opportunities to include some of our exciting upcoming talent into your next event. The convention bureau team are on hand to provide inside information on the very best locations and experience for your event – they are destination experts and can help connect you to the right businesses and people to ensure success.
DW: Tell us how Liverpool Convention Bureau can help event planners who are looking to bring a conference or event to the Liverpool City Region?
JJ: Well, Liverpool Convention Bureau just won Silver at the M&IT Awards for Best UK Convention Bureau for the THIRD year running! This is testament to the fantastic work from the incredible team 😊
We can do an availability and price check for you which takes all the hassle out of trying to find a suitable venue for your event. Let us do the hard work and send your enquiry out to our partners, collating all the responses and making it easy and simple for you to make your selection. We try to find out as much as we can about what you are looking for so that we can match you up with relevant venues/hotels or suppliers. We don’t just send enquiries out to everyone- we really tailor make our requests to get the very best options for you. We also help with offering an accommodation booking services- whether you want to contract the rooms yourself or provide an easy to use platform for delegates to book their own rooms we can work with you to find a solution. Best of all – the convention bureau services are all completely FREE of charge. Check out this amazing Event Planners Guide here
Aside from these core services, the team are always on hand to assist with a wide range of other enquiries – if you need a florist, corporate gifts, transfers or connections with potential speakers you can always count on our team to help out. Just ask!
DW: Do you want to tell us about any new partners you are working with or exciting events coming up in the city?
JJ: We have had some fantastic new properties open within the last few years which is testament to a great recovery post-Covid. New hotels like the Municipal Hotel by MGallery and Radisson RED are both in stunning heritage buildings which have been brought back to life and look fabulous. We also have completely new properties with RCP Spaces at The Spine and the Novotel Paddington Village opening next door to each other providing amazing views, incredible tech and modern facilities in the Knowledge Quarter.
This year we have also partnered with the 2030hub who have supported us on our sustainability journey and this has been a really key partnership for us in creating our visitor economy taskforce. We have also recently joined PCMA and Destinations International to broaden our knowledge and reach and to position Liverpool globally in the meetings and incentives sector.
DW: I can’t let you go without asking mentioning Eurovision! We know an additional 500,000 visitors came to the Liverpool City Region and saw the city full of love, compassion and joy, and with 150 million viewers tuning in worldwide, this was an amazing showcase for the city. What are you now seeing in terms of economic impact from Eurovision?
JJ: Eurovision what can I say, other than it was phenomenal, we were brimming with pride and joy! Liverpool demonstrated that we have the capacity, capability and experience to host an event of the scale and complexity of Eurovision. We are excited to find out more about the legacy of hosting Eurovision on the Liverpool City Region and beyond at our Eurovision Legacy event on 26th October. This will help us in the bidding, planning and delivery of future large scale events and cultural activity in the city.
