News

The Bournemouth International Centre (BIC)

10 Mar 2010

Future looks bright for BIC

The future looks bright for the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) after recently winning a new event for 2010, the Unlock the Future Conference. The leading UK conference and exhibition venue also won four more new clients, including British Council of Shopping Centre Managers, Bournemouth Ink, the World Council of Enterostomal Therapists and the Association of British Neurologists, whose events are all taking place this year, meaning £2.25m for Bournemouth’s economy.

2010 will see these five new diverse clients at the BIC – ranging from a tattoo convention to the annual general conference and exhibition of a national medical association.

After long negotiations, the British Council of Shopping Centres confirmed last year that it would be bringing its Spring Conference and Exhibition to the BIC for the first time this month. The two day event attracted around 500 delegates, meaning an investment of just under approximately £300,000 into the local economy. The association is the voice of the retail property industry, and the exhibition which ran alongside the main plenary session featured the Bank of England and the RNLI.

Clive Tyers, Head of Conferences, Exhibitions and Events said of the new business wins: “Obviously its great news when we win new events, but doubly great when they are new clients as well. We have a nearly 70% repeat business rate annually so to get these four new events this year is a real achievement by our sales team – particularly as the events have been booked by working with agencies, as well as the associations direct. Our future is looking bright as we move towards becoming a Trust in the next couple of months.”

Two new medical association clients have also been confirmed. The Association of British Neurologists is hosting their annual conference and exhibition at the BIC in May. The three day event expects around 500 delegates and means more than an estimated £400,000 in terms of business tourism spend for the local area. The BIC will also host the World Council of Enterostomal Therapists’ UK event in September this year. The two day event expects 600 delegates, which will inject just under £350,000 to the local economy.

The Unlock the Future Conference in July expects 750 delegates to the two day event in the BIC’s popular and recently refurbished Tregonwell Hall. It is estimated that this will mean just under £450,000 for Bournemouth’s economy through delegate expenditure.

Bournemouth Ink, a two day tattoo convention, is coming to the BIC for the first time at the end of May. It expects about 3,000-4,000 visitors to the event per day. The event will feature around 150 traders, live music, visual displays and much more.

The five events are worth an estimated £2.25m for Bournemouth’s economy. Other big names are also returning to the BIC this year, including the Royal College of Nursing, the Police Federation, UNISON and Communication Workers Union to name just a few.