Major tourism convention to take place in Plymouth

UKinbound has announced that Plymouth, Britain’s Ocean City, will host for the first time, next year’s milestone 40thAnniversary Annual Convention, which will take place from 08-10 February 2017.

As part of UKinbound’s ongoing dedication to promote driving tourism outside of London and across the UK, the trade association has picked Plymouth to host 2017’s ceremonial Annual Convention, welcoming over 250 tourism representatives over two days. The timing of the event complements the city’s multi-million-pound development as it prepares to celebrate the Mayflower 400 commemorations in 2020.

UKInbound’s chief executive officer, Deirdre Wells OBE said: "We are delighted to be working with Plymouth on our 40th anniversary Convention. Plymouth has a proud naval heritage surrounded by stunning countryside and provides a gateway to the South West for our inbound visitors”.

As lead city for the UK, Plymouth will be celebrating 400 years since the iconic Mayflower sailed from Plymouth to the United States of America. As part of the preparations for 2020, Plymouth’s significant development programme includes a £32 million major re-development of the city’s museums and galleries, a major new rail station scheme and £4.17 million coach hub, plus a £40 million major retail development to extend Drake Circus shopping centre. UKinbound’s Annual Convention, therefore, will be a high profile trade event to highlight the city’s expansion and restoration to fellow travel and tourism colleagues, as well as a prime opportunity to generate business opportunities.

As one of the key cities and growth areas in the South West, Plymouth is recognised as the the greenest city in the UK and additionally renowned for its excellent connectivity being just three hours from London by rail and having two international airports, Exeter and Bristol, located on its doorstep. Attracting over 5.2 million visitors annually, Destination Plymouth has an exceptional offering for the inboundvisitor which is helping to draw tourism nationally across the UK.

Duncan Currall, Chair of Destination Plymouth, said, “Destination Plymouth is delighted that UK Inbound has awarded Plymouth the opportunity to host their 40th anniversary conference in Britain’s Ocean City. We believe this is a great opportunity to showcase the very best that Plymouth has to offer as well as demonstrating the natural beauty, heritage and wealth of visitor attractions in the wider Devon and Cornwall region.

“We are very grateful for the support of Conference Plymouth, Holiday Inn, Copthorne Hotel, Plymouth Pavilions and HM Royal Navy Devonport, plus a multitude of City partners who have all worked together on this successful bid. It is a true demonstration of ‘Team Plymouth’ at its very best. We look forward to working with the UK Inbound team and really ‘pushing the boat out’ in true Plymouth style for their event in February next year.”

Jonathan Morcomm, Director, Duke of Cornwall said: "This is great news for Plymouth. I'd like to thank Destination Plymouth, Plymouth Waterfront Partnership, Plymouth Pavilions and Conference Plymouth for facilitating a strong familiarisation trip and securing such a big event for the city.”

Gavin Marshall, Plymouth Pavilions said: “We are delighted at this success. The UKInbound conference represents an excellent opportunity for the City - not just for the partners but for the wider tourism sector across Plymouth. We look forward to working with everyone to ensure Plymouth is brilliantly positioned for this conference.”

Michael Wood, General Manager, Holiday Inn said:  "We are delighted UKInbound has selected Plymouth, the team at the Holiday Inn soon to be converted to a Crowne Plaza will be working hard with the team from Plymouth to ensure the event is a huge success.”

Trevor Vels, General Manager, Copthorne Hotel said: “We are delighted that Plymouth has been selected as the host destination by UK Inbound. This has come about through the magnificent joint efforts of all the role players in the city and we look forward to hosting this important event next year.

Pauline Hands, Director of Marketing, Employer Engagement & Enterprise, said: “City College Plymouth has a central role to play in the educational, cultural and economic life of Plymouth and we welcome this exciting news, which will certainly raise the profile, not only of Plymouth, but of the key benefits for those joining the travel and tourism sector. The College is dedicated to enabling local people to access both new and existing job prospects through our partnerships with local employers. Hosting this prestigious conference will certainly be key to the City’s future prosperity.”

The conference will follow on from the success of this year’s Annual UKInbound Convention held in Macdonald Aviemore Resort in Scotland, Destination Plymouth, who will be hosting will welcome over 250 UKinbound members for two days of thought-provoking debates, plenary sessions with key note speakers, networking opportunities including a major B2B workshop and rounded off with a  black-tie Gala Dinner, at which the Association’s annual Awards for Excellence will be announced. The Convention will be marked with extra special celebrations to honor the Association’s 40th Anniversary.

* UKinbound is one of the leading trade associations and the only one which focuses solely on the interests of the UK's inbound tourism sector. Striving to remove the barriers to growth and ensuring a more competitive environment for inbound tourism in which the industry can flourish, UKinbound addresses and engages with Government, the media, travel trade and the general public to raise awareness of the importance of inbound tourism to the UK economy.

For over 30 years, UKinbound has been representing the interests and uniting more than 300 of the UK's inbound tourism businesses, providing business and networking opportunities for our membership, whilst maintaining best practice and the highest standards of operation in the industry.