The VisitBritain Business Events Association Conference 2025 will bring together invited international associations, professional congress organisers (PCOs) and decision-makers from British nations and city convention bureaus for a two-day conference at the International Convention Centre (ICC) Wales in Newport.
Hosted in partnership with MeetEngland, Meet in Wales and VisitScotland Business Events, the event will explore the evolving landscape of event bidding; the expanding role and reach of convention bureaus to support association missions, including deeper impact strategies; and emerging technology that may affect sourcing destinations and event design.
Paul Black, Head of Business Events at VisitBritain said:
“As Britain’s newest convention centre and with its first-class facilities, the ICC Wales is a fitting host as we look at the status of association events bidding. We also look forward to working with our partners at the ICC Wales to deliver an insightful experience for our delegates and one where they can engage with associations and congress organisers to showcase our world leading sectors.
“The business events industry is evolving, particularly in sustainability, impact and digital transformation with the role of destination convention bureaus expanding to support associations and their event missions. Many associations plan their congresses years in advance and our conference is an opportunity to bring key destination partners together to discuss, interact and support peers exploring how these trends are reshaping the sector, and how best to prepare for the bidding process of tomorrow.”
VisitBritain Business Events will also present the VisitBritain Business Events Impactful Framework©, designed to support cities and associations in identifying key areas of impact to consider when building outcome-focused strategies for their business events. The framework was introduced at the previous VisitBritain Association Conference in Edinburgh in February 2024 and is due to launch later this year, integrating feedback received by UK partners and attending associations. This work is part of VisitBritain’s two-year ‘Shape the Future of Events’ programme.
Alongside the education and discussion tracks, the conference will allocate time for meetings, networking and presentations from the three nations – Wales, England and Scotland.
ICC Wales Sales Director, Danielle Bounds, said:
“We are delighted to have been chosen to host the VisitBritain Business Events Association Conference and look forward to joining our colleagues from across Great Britain to help shape the future growth of the business events sector.
“The objectives of the conference closely match the themes explored in our latest ICC Wales report – Event Power: A Force For Good – and we are excited to have another opportunity to examine how business events reach way beyond the economic benefits to a destination to deliver lasting social impacts and legacies. We are also looking forward to laying on a warm Welsh welcome to all our industry friends and partners and showing them the exceptional facilities here at ICC Wales.”
For more information, please visit https://www.visitbritain.org/visitbritain-business-events-association-conference.
