The Convention Centre Dublin Ramps Up its Focus on Europe
DUBLIN – 4 April, 2013 – The Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) has ramped up its sales resource and doubled the number of European trade shows it will attend this year, in order to win more business from European corporates and associations.
Since pre-opening, The CCD has attended IMEX and EIBTM each year, in association with Tourism Ireland. This week, The CCD is attending the French Meetings Show, Meedex, and later this month it will attend Associations Congress in Lisbon, with the aim of promoting The CCD to a wider European audience, to build on the success the venue has already yielded from this market.
“We have analysed our confirmed events since we started taking bookings in 2007, and approximately 59% of our business has either originated from European offices of corporates and associations, or has brought a large European delegation,” said CEO, Nick Waight. “Having established a strong brand presence in the UK over the past few years, we are now focusing on a more targeted approach to the European market, which we believe has huge potential for The CCD”.
This targeted approach includes ramping up the sales resource to a team of ten experienced professionals, with seven dedicated account managers focussing on international corporate and association business. And, in addition to attending trade shows in Paris, Lisbon, Frankfurt and Barcelona, the team have a hectic schedule of meetings with potential clients in key European cities over the coming months, including Rome, Berlin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Milan and Lyon.
The CCD has hosted over 690 events since opening in September 2010, and has now won 22 industry awards, including ‘Best Overseas Conference Centre’ for the second year running at the M&IT Awards 2013, and recognition by the International Association of Convention Centres (AIPC) as one of the top four convention centres in the world, winning one of three runner-up positions for ‘World’s Best Convention Centre’ at the AIPC Apex Awards 2012.
“We are very fortunate to have the wonderful destination of Dublin as our location,” said Head of Conference Sales, Marie Lawlor, “offering organisers and delegates not only a friendly, historic and cultural city as the backdrop for their event, but also unrivalled access via Dublin Airport, which is a mere 20 minutes from The CCD, with daily flights to most European destinations.”
Past ‘European’ events to note, include EuroScience 2012, the European Association of International Education Conference, EuroPrevent, TM Forum 2011 and 2012, Google EMEA Conference 2010 and 2011, NetApp Insight 2012 and Teradata Universe Conference 2012. The centre has also confirmed an impressive array of international events for 2013, including eHealth Week Conference, the European Forum on Epilepsy Research, EuroNanoForum, European Cytogenetics Conference, the 9th European ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) Congress (ERTICO), the 15th International European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (ESCAP) Congress, the 19th FECAVA EuroCongress, and the return of NetApp Insight for the second year in November 2013.
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About The CCD
The Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD), Ireland’s first purpose-built international conference centre, is situated in Spencer Dock on the banks of the River Liffey in the heart of Dublin’s city centre. The award-winning venue is configured to accommodate conferences from 8 to 8,000 participants in 22 purpose-built meeting rooms and six spacious foyer levels. Its iconic design includes a 2,000-seat auditorium, 4,500 square metres of exhibition space and banqueting facilities for up to 3,000 guests. The CCD offers the latest technology throughout its flexible and delegate-friendly venue, with an experienced and passionate team. The CCD is committed to sustainability and best practices, and has secured ISO Certification for quality (ISO 9001) and environmental (ISO 14001) management systems, as well as the British Security Standard (BS7499). The CCD has won a total of 22 industry awards since opening, including being named as one of the top four Convention Centres in the World at the AIPC Apex Awards in 2012 and winning Gold for ‘‘Best Overseas Conference Centre’ at the UK M&IT Awards 2012 and 2013, and Gold for ‘Access Excellence’ at the UK M&IT Awards 2012. For more information, please visit www.theccd.ie
Press Contact:
Elaine Phillips
Head of Marketing & Communications
The Convention Centre Dublin
Phone: +353 1 8184610
Email: elaine.phillips@theccd.ie