Tag: data

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GlobalData research find Brexit not deterring UK outbound travellers

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, a new report by GlobalData, a data and analytics company, has revealed UK departures to Europe are set to grow 2.88 per cent in 2019.

In 2018, 55.9 million UK residents travelled to European destinations. However, GlobalData expects this number to increase to 64.4 million in 2019.

The report, “Tourism Source Market Insight: United Kingdom” also identified that Spain and Eastern European nations will continue to see growth as travellers seek sunshine and city breaks with a smaller price tag.

Laura Beaton, travel and tourism analyst at GlobalData, said: “Of course Brexit has impacted the UK’s outbound tourism industry but the reality is not likely to be as bad as we might have been led to believe, at least in terms of visitor numbers.”

The UK’s longstanding relationship with Spain is not set to be affected by a Brexit deal or no-deal either. In 2017 the then Spanish deputy minister for European affairs, Jorge Toledo, stated that Spain would have a backup plan to shield the country’s tourism industry from Brexit consequences.


GlobalData graph showing an increase in UK outbound travellers.

“Tourism from the UK is an important part of many European countries’ economies and Spain, France, and Italy are going to remain the top destinations for UK travellers for the foreseeable future so it is important that ties are not severed,” added Beaton.

The report also identified destinations such as Hungary, Czech Republic and Romania as places UK travellers would be increasingly travelling to in the future. This is partly because their currencies currently remain weaker than the pound and untapped natural beauty, history and culture is also enticing travellers to visit these countries.

“The depreciation of the pound has had a big impact on expenditure, however, and travellers have had to spend more to match the same experiences they had a few years ago. As a result, cheaper locations are highly sought after by UK travellers.”

“Western Europe is only truly becoming aware of the other offerings of Eastern Europe and this helps to explain how each country has rapidly grown its UK visitor numbers in recent years,” said Beaton.

“Vilnius in Lithuania is a UNESCO World Heritage site and Budapest has many buildings that have won European Heritage Awards so Eastern Europe has plenty to entice travellers away from the traditional city breaks of Paris and Rome.”

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New data reveals £1.9bn spend generated by academic conferences

Richard Smith of RJS Associates and Tony Rogers Conference & Event Service have released new research into the university and academic conference market.

Among the key findings are that academic conferences generated £1.9bn of in-destination spend during 2017, as well as an estimated 15 million delegate days.

The new report, entitled ‘University and Academic Conference Market Trends’, represents the first in a series of reports examining the developments, changes and trends in different types of conference and meeting venue over the past decade. 

It is based on the huge volumes of data that have been collected in this period via the annual ‘UK Conference and Meetings Survey’ (UKCAMS) research. It is designed to complement the national UKCAMS data by providing an in-depth analysis of different venue types on a sector by sector basis.

This report provides a more detailed focus on universities. It looks at the supply of such venues and their different characteristics, as well as the size, value and performance of the academic venue sector by different sub-categories of venue.

The report also contains a number of insights from university conference sales representatives, summarising their current market experiences, and reflecting on changes experienced over recent years.

Some other key findings from the research include:

 The annual average number of conferences has fluctuated since 2009. Academic venues experienced an increase in 2010 and 2011 but fell back in 2013 and 2014.  They have witnessed some growth in the last couple of years.

This trend appears to have been driven by business from the corporate sector which has also fluctuated since 2009 but has shown an increase from 2013.

Levels of overnight conference business have also increased from 2013 – reaching a peak in 2017.

Tony Rogers commented: “Academic venues, principally universities, have a long history of staging meetings and training events, but it is really only in the past two to three decades that serious investment has taken place to provide facilities for, and the marketing of, dedicated meeting and conference spaces for hire by external organisations.”

Authors Richard Smith and Tony Rogers also undertake the annual UKCAMS research. Copies of the report are available priced £250 + VAT. Visit http://www.ukcams.org.uk to order.

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Top Tips on how to make the most of EDGE Venues

It’s all in one place. EDGE is a powerful tool and will be used by meeting organisers to search for venues and to create proposals.  So we need to know what your venue can do, how it works, guideline pricing and a good insight into your facilities.

Help us to bring your venue to life. The more data you fill in the higher you will come up in relevant searches. This data will then provide the basis for the RFPs that will be sent to potential clients or agents. Your venue’s profile on EDGE will show users what you can offer, where you are located, how you look and how much they are likely to pay. This will streamline the RFP process as all clients and agents will be making an informed decision on who to contact therefore  ensuring you do not waste your time on RFP’s that will never convert.

There are two Engagement License opportunities: EDGE venues plus and Agency EDGE which are available to all venues via a monthly license fee. Please ask the EDGE Team for full details on 01780 484051.

How to make the most of your venue’s profile

Let us know where you are located and what you have to offer potential clients and agents. Here are some pointers to help you get to the heady heights of 100% profile:

  • The upload all data and photographs.  This is completely free of charge so make the most of this by adding images for all your meeting rooms and do not forget the image on your accommodation section.
  • Any bookings generated via the EDGE platform that are handled by the EDGE agency team or by other Agents are commissionable to the agent who has
  • placed the business with you.
  • The more information that you include in your venue profile the higher your data percentage will be. Below is a guideline of how to increase your percentage.

Take a look at this guide to make the most of your entry on EDGEVenues.com or email the data team on data@trinityeventsolutions.co.uk or call us on 01780 484051.