Glasgow Convention Bureau has today launched a new campaign targeting the incentive market at IBTM World, one of the leading global events for the meetings, incentives, conferences and events industry. This is a new target market for Glasgow which has to date, primarily focused on association conference business.
The Incentive travel market contributes an estimated £17m* to the Scottish economy and working with local tourism and hospitality businesses, this campaign aims to enhance Scotland’s current incentive offering and drive more Incentive trips to Glasgow.
Incentive trips have the highest delegate spend of any type of business event with, on average, over £1,500 spent per delegate in Scotland. By targeting this market, this campaign will help support the delivery of Glasgow’s Tourism and Visitor Plan to grow the city’s tourism economy by attracting one million more overnight visitors by 2023. New Incentive business will contribute to an associated spend of £771 million and an additional 6,600 jobs in the city.
Glasgow Convention Bureau has worked closely with Scottish Destination Management Companies, local businesses and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) to develop Glasgow’s unique positioning and enhanced offering for incentive clients. This has resulted in the creation of five key pillars:
- Urban Adventure – there is an abundance of experiences which take advantage of the city’s cultural and sporting credentials
- Move to the Beat – the city’s vast musical offering and iconic venues make Glasgow a must-visit destination for music lovers, providing incentive planners with unforgettable music experiences to incorporate into itineraries
- Foodie Experiences – incentive clients can take over one of the city’s dedicated street food markets, step back in time and dine in the splendour of a bygone era in one of the city’s grand venues, get behind the scenes access to our distilleries and much more
- Mackintosh Moments – Charles Rennie Mackintosh is regarded as one of the most creative figures of the 20th century and left a legacy of magnificent work across the city. This is truly unique to Glasgow and incentive planners can incorporate experiences which utilise these assets into their itineraries
- Escape to the Wilds of Scotland – incentive planners can complement city based experiences with something more rural and traditionally Scottish thanks to Glasgow’s proximity to Loch Lomond and Argyll & the Isles – these could potentially include private island dining, highland games, Scottish wildlife experiences and tours of world famous whisky distilleries.