NEWS RELEASE
Friday, February 1, 2013
Glasgow hotels join ABPCO
Conference Cloud campaign
A UK-wide campaign to encourage venues and hotels to offer free
Wi-Fi to conference delegates has received a Scottish boost after
16 Glasgow hotels signed-up to the venture.
The Association of British Professional Conference Organisers
(ABPCO) launched its Conference Cloud campaign last year with an
initial focus on conference venues.
Now ABPCO has kick-started 2013 by extending the campaign to
include delegate accommodation, with Glasgow’s hotels – which are
amongst the first hotels in the UK to sign up – taking the total
number of Conference Cloud backers to more than 200.
Other Glasgow venues to have already signed up to the campaign
include House for an Art Lover, the Corinthian Club, the IET
Glasgow Teacher Building, Tennent’s Training Academy, Glasgow
Science Centre and private members club, 29 Glasgow.
ABPCO Chair Jennifer Jenkins said: “We’re extremely pleased that
the importance of the Conference Cloud campaign has been cemented
in Scotland with 16 Glasgow hotels coming on board to support those
other venues in the city which signed up last year.
“We have long felt that delegates should have free access to
Wi-Fi for their entire conference experience and this should
naturally include their hotel. Glasgow is one of Europe’s leading
conventions destinations and it’s great to see hoteliers across the
city embracing our campaign.
“Free Wi-Fi has become a necessity as opposed to a luxury. The
Conference Cloud campaign has grown rapidly and will only continue
to gather pace as an increasing number of delegates begin to, quite
rightly, expect free Wi-Fi from their accommodation provider as
well as their conference venue.”
Business tourism has been worth more than £970 million to
Glasgow’s economy in the past seven years. Conference delegates now
account for one in five hotel beds sold in Glasgow, underscoring
the importance of conventions to the local economy.
Scott Taylor, Chief Executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau,
said: “Wi-Fi is becoming a hygiene factor for the hotel industry
and is being viewed in exactly the same terms as heat, lighting and
air-conditioning.
“The number of Glasgow hotels signing up to ABPCO’s Conference
Cloud campaign shows that the city’s hoteliers are determined to
deliver real benefits to what is a hugely important client
base.
“As the only Scottish city to have shown its support for the
Conference Cloud campaign, I am delighted that Glasgow’s venues and
hotels are playing their part in this digital revolution, which
reinforces our reputation as one of the UK and Europe’s most
progressive business tourism cities today.”
Denis MacCann, General Manager of Hotel Indigo and Co-Chair of
the Greater Glasgow Hotels Association (GGHA), said: “Alongside
location and price, free Wi-Fi is probably the most important
consideration for business guests today and it’s certainly what
international delegates have come to expect, so as a city we need
to be providing this level of service if we are to maintain our
position in the global conference market.
“Today’s announcement is a step in the right direction and shows
that more and more Glasgow hotels are recognising the importance of
Wi-Fi, not as an ancillary charge, but as a complimentary
provision.”
For more information on the Conference Cloud campaign or to sign
up, visit www.abpco.org/the-conference-cloud.
ENDS
Notes to editor:
The following Greater Glasgow hotels have joined ABPCO’s
Conference Cloud campaign:
- Baby Abode Glasgow
- Blythswood Square
- Campanile Glasgow Airport
- Carlton George Hotel
- citizenM Glasgow
- Hilton Garden Inn
- Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens
- Hotel Indigo
- The Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre
- The Devoncove Hotel
- The Glynhill Hotel and Leisure Club
- Menzies Glasgow
- Macdonald Crutherland House Hotel
- The Westerwood Hotel and Golf Resort
- Mar Hall Golf and Spa Resort
- Cameron House
About ABPCO
The Association of British Professional Conference Organisers
(ABPCO) is the only UK professional body to represent the interests
of individual Professional Conference Organisers (PCOs).
Established in 1981 and formally incorporated in 1987, the
association’s mission is to develop and enhance the professional
status of conference and event organisers and increase the
recognition given to its members as the leading representatives of
the profession in the British Isles. ABPCO’s members organise an
estimated 3,500 conferences and events annually and spend an
estimated £58 million each year on venues and suppliers. For more
information, visit www.abpco.org or follow ABPCO on
Twitter at www.twitter.com/ABPCO.
About Glasgow City Marketing
Bureau
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB) is the official destination
marketing organisation (DMO) for the city of Glasgow. As custodian
of the Glasgow: Scotland with style brand, GCMB works
with partners, stakeholders and businesses to position and promote
Glasgow across national and international markets as one of
Europe’s most vibrant, dynamic and diverse cities in which to live,
work, study, invest and visit. For more information, visit: www.seeglasgow.com
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau was announced as ABPCO’s first
patron in November 2012 in recognition of GCMB’s support for ABPCO
and its members as well as GCMB’s professionalism in the industry.
The ABPCO Patronage Scheme will invite a further six partners to
become patrons in 2013, each with exclusivity in their particular
field. GCMB represents the ‘Convention Bureau’ category, following
many years of working closely with a number of ABPCO members on a
broad range of conferences and conventions.