Aberdeen to be showcased at Energy Cities Alliance event 22/05/12

Aberdeen is to be represented at a major meetings and incentive travel exhibition in Frankfurt as one of the four cities which make up the Energy Cities Alliance.

A team from Aberdeen Convention Bureau will attend an Energy Cities Alliance business breakfast tomorrow (Wednesday) to showcase the city and its energy industry at IMEX 2012, which gets underway today (Tuesday).

The Energy Cities Alliance brings together four cities which are key players in the energy industries for their respective countries - Aberdeen, Abu Dhabi, Calgary and Perth, Western Australia. 

The Alliance was formed to promote the world's most dynamic and economically booming cities in the oil and gas and mining resources industries, and offers practical support to meeting and event planners who are looking to host successful world class conferences.

Aberdeen Convention Bureau proactively promotes Aberdeen City and Shire to attract new conferences to the region, organising and hosting site inspection visits with invited conference organisers, to showcase the North-east's best venues and facilities.

Last year, around 9,000 people attended IMEX, including just under 3,900 hosted buyers from more than 60 world markets.

Aberdeen Convention Bureau is also exhibiting on the VisitScotland Business Tourism Unit stand.

Alesia du Plessis, sales and marketing manager at Aberdeen Convention Bureau, said it was vital for Aberdeen to have a strong presence at the event.

"Aberdeen is a very strong contender in terms of business tourism and Aberdeen Convention Bureau is constantly out there raising the profile of the city as a major energy hub with good connections to Europe, particularly on the back of the new direct flights to Frankfurt," she said.

"We provide free support that could help to secure a future event for the city, working in close partnership with our industry partners such as the Aberdeen Exhibition Conference Centre, which is also representing Aberdeen at IMEX, to promote the city as a viable option for event planners.

"Our membership of the Energy Cities Alliance is important as it establishes Aberdeen as a major city that can hold its own against other destinations which also have strong energy credentials.

"Combined with developments such as the Trump golf resort, new international hotel brands, increased connectivity and the strength of our Ambassador Programme, which sees us working with local academics to secure conference business, we can welcome a bigger share of the global meetings and conference market."

Aberdeen is set to be a hive of activity in September, when it will play host to several major events and thousands of visitors.

The world's leading unconventional heavy oil conference and exhibition, the World Heavy Oil Congress, will bring around 1,000 delegates to Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, while the newly refurbished Hilton Aberdeen Treetops Hotel will host an event for Stena over the course of a week, which will also attract hundreds of delegates from all over Europe.

IMEX 2012 runs from May 22-24 at the Messe Frankfurt complex. For more information, call Aberdeen Convention Bureau on 01224 288815 or visit www.aberdeenconferences.com