Published by
Neil ThompsonVisitBritain, in partnership with MeetEngland, Meet in Wales and VisitScotland Business Events, hosted its second Association Conference from 11-13 February 2025 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) Wales in Newport.
The conference, with the theme ‘Bid for Today, Bid for Tomorrow,’ brought together 70 industry professionals including UK nations, city convention bureaus, international associations and professional congress organisers.
Through moderated discussions, workshops and practical learning, delegates discussed the state of the event bidding process from the perspectives of destinations, associations and organisers; leveraging partnerships to deliver wider impact measures through congresses; and the growing role of smart technology to influence destination sourcing and event design, balancing artificial intelligence (AI) augmentation with the personalised ‘human touch.’
VisitBritain continued its award-winning educational programme for industry by training delegates on the application of the VisitBritain BE Impactful Framework©, designed to support cities and associations to integrate outcome-focused positive impact strategies into their business events. Developed in partnership with #MEET4IMPACT, the framework supports British destinations to define and measure impact objectives against eight capitals: Natural, Built, Political, Cultural, Financial, Human, Intellectual and Social, working in partnership with their clients.
Paul Black, Head of Business Events at VisitBritain, officially opened the conference,
highlighting the importance of association congresses to support growth in key sectors
across Britain, deliver wider impacts working in partnership with organisers, and
discuss the growing role of technology in event planning and execution.
"We are pleased to host our association conference at the wonderful ICC Wales, creating a forum for our delegates to discuss the bidding landscape and how we can work together to deliver growth and impactful association congresses in Britain. We extend our gratitude to the teams at ICC Wales, Celtic Manor Resort and Meet in Wales for their partnership in hosting this year’s conference, and to our industry partners the Association of British Professional Congress Organisers, The Business of Events, the European Society of Association Executives and each nation for
supporting our event programme. Finally, a huge thank you to all our attendees for contributing to a successful and informative conference.”
Paul Black, Head of Business Events, VisitBritain
ICC Wales Sales Director Danielle Bounds said:
“We were thrilled to host the Association Conference for VisitBritain and to welcome so many of our colleagues from across Great Britain for some fascinating insights into how we shape future growth within the business events sector. It was a fantastic opportunity to once again showcase our world-class facilities here at ICC Wales and the feedback we received from leading figures within the events industry was amazing and very pleasing to hear. Being part of the engaged discussion at the conference makes us even more excited about the year ahead and the opportunities that await the industry.”
Aside from the educational itinerary, attendees also visited South Wales University to learn about the research and sector developments taking place. They also attended a welcome reception at the Tŷ Newport hotel and a gala dinner at the Twenty Ten Clubhouse at the Celtic Manor Resort.
