The meetings and events industry is worth a huge £562 million pounds a year to the Leeds economy according to the latest independent research. During 2009 the research surveyed over 100 venues in Leeds and estimated that the city attracts over 4 million delegates per year worth £562 million to the economy.

The figures come from the “Yorkshire Business Tourism Research” report, carried out by Yorkshire Forward, which forms part of the annual UK Events Markets Trends Survey (UKEMTS) research, a nationally recognised industry benchmark.

The research shows a big growth in business visitors to the region – in West Yorkshire the total expenditure by delegates amounted to £777 million from 5.79 million delegates; accounting for 56% of all business visits to Yorkshire and including £77 million to the Bradford economy

Nicola Lockwood, Head of Conference Leeds the super-convention bureau for Leeds and West Yorkshire said:
“We are delighted with these figures. We have had a busy year, despite the recession and 2009 is shaping up to be our busiest year ever”.

She added:

“There has been a huge growth in hotels and meeting venues in the city over the last 5 years and these figures show why Leeds is now ranked in the top 5 meeting destinations in the UK”.

Conference Leeds is supported by Welcome to Yorkshire, chief executive Gary Verity says, “These fantastic figures show that the hard work of the Conference Leeds team has paid off. There can be no doubt about how important business tourism is to the city of Leeds in terms of sustaining and creating jobs.”

www.conference-leeds.com

Conference Leeds is responsible for promoting meetings and events across Leeds and West Yorkshire and is a “super convention bureau” representing over 250 venues throughout West Yorkshire.

Conference Leeds is supported by Welcome to Yorkshire, and Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency, charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber visitor economy. All the local authorities in West Yorkshire; Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale also support Conference Leeds.

Key facts include:

• Business tourism generates £777m to the economy of West Yorkshire each year.
• 5.79 million delegates attend business tourism events in West Yorkshire each year.
• Leeds is ranked the 5th most popular destination for the corporate market in the British Meetings and Events Industry Survey 2009

For further information please contact:

Nicola Lockwood, Manager
Conference Leeds
Direct Line: 0113 220 6356
Mobile: 07957205486
E-mail: nicola.lockwood@conference-leeds.com