BIC Brings Big Business to Bournemouth

October saw a variety of medical events take place at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC), bringing big business to Bournemouth. Over £3.5m was injected into the local economy as a result of the six events.

The Royal College of General Practitioners’ (RCGP) National Annual Conference took place between Wednesday 1st October and Saturday 4th October. One thousand delegates visited the four day event which injected in excess of £1m into Bournemouth’s economy through business tourism expenditure.

The event, which took place in all four halls, included an exhibition that featured nearly 70 exhibitors including BMI Healthcare, Oxford University Press and Barclays. It also saw RCGP Chair, Professor Steve Field and Fergus Walsh, Medical Correspondent for the BBC, take to the stage.

The Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland were also back at the BIC with their Annual Conference from Wednesday 12th November until Friday 14th November. Approximately 650 delegates came to the three day event and the event is estimated to have been worth around £550,000 to the Bournemouth’s economy.

The NHS Alliance was back in Bournemouth with its Annual Conference at the BIC on Thursday 16th and Friday 17th October. Nearly 1,000 delegates flocked to the BIC for the two day conference. The main conference programme took place in the Solent Hall and included speakers including celebrity Dr Phil Hammond, Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Health, David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive and Dr Michael Dixon, NHS Alliance chairman. The event brought over £550,000 to Bournemouth’s thriving business economy.

Monday 20th October was World Osteoporosis Day and the BIC’s sister venue, the Pavilion Theatre and Ballroom, hosted a free Bone Health Fair, staged by Osteoporosis Dorset. A healthy figure of 700 people flocked to the event to see former fitness teacher Diana Moran, TV’s ‘Green Goddess’, who is president of the local organisation.

Not only is the BIC the place to meet, it’s the place for feet! Feet took centre stage in October as it hosted the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists’ annual conference for the first time. The three day conference ran from Thursday 23rd October until Saturday 25th October and achieved around 1,200 attendees. The event opened on Thursday 23rd October, with a Graduation Ceremony in the Tregonwell Hall and Mr Jamie Andrew, author and Mountaineer, who still climbs after he lost both feet and hands to frostbite after being trapped in a storm for 5 days in the French Alps, led a motivational speech later in the week. With 1,200 delegates, the three day conference contributed just over £1m to the local economy.

The largest UK dementia-focused event, the annual UK Dementia Congress ended the run of medical events in October. The two day event, organised by the Journal of Dementia Care and sponsored by Barchester Healthcare, ran from Tuesday 28th October until Thursday 30th October. With over 700 visitors and 40 exhibitors, including Help the Aged, Boots and Dementia Care Matters, the event brought a healthy £400,000 to the local economy.

Clive Tyers, Head of Conferences, Exhibitions and Events said: “The BIC is the largest conference, exhibition and event venue on the South Coast and Bournemouth is recognised internationally as a premier destination. We have always attracted the large medical associations and we’re pleased to have hosted so many events in October. Our conference and exhibitions sales team secure high calibre clients throughout the year and October’s healthy success is a great example.”

Recent statistics value Bournemouth’s business tourism at £127.6m, of which the BIC and Pavilion contribute £73m annually through the conferences and exhibitions staged at the venues. The remaining £54.6m is a result of conferences, events and meetings at other venues in Bournemouth, often facilitated by the Bournemouth International Conference Bureau (BICB).