Three into One for the BIC

Three events in one week mean it’s a busy time for the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC). Three association events, AIRMIC, ACNC and ALARM, will all be taking place at the BIC this week.

The start of the week saw AIRMIC (Association of Insurance and Risk Managers), host their annual 2009 Conference and Exhibition at the venue. Around 650 delegates attended the two day event, which was described as the showcase for the corporate risk and insurance industry. The event opened on Tuesday 16th June with an exhibition in the Windsor Hall, featuring over 40 exhibitors including Zurich, AXA Corporate Solutions and HSBC Insurance Brokers. The main conference session took place in the adjacent Solent Hall over the course of the two days.

Over 450 exhibitors are expected to the 2009 AvMA Clinical Negligence Conference later in the week (ACNC). The 21st Annual Conference will bring together the clinical negligence community for two days, to discuss the latest developments, policies and strategies. The exhibition opens on Friday 19th June in the BIC’s Windsor Hall, with the main conference running in the Solent Hall. The first day will focus on Medico-Legal issues arising from birth and reproduction.

Clive Tyers, Head of Conferences, Exhibitions and Events at the BIC said: “This week is a great example of how important the association market is for the BIC. Everyone’s talking about the green shoots of recovery and whilst I’m not disagreeing, these events were confirmed years ahead and make for steady business for us regardless of the recession or the recovery that follows. A busy week like this highlights how niche the association market is; we are currently booking events for 2014, 2015 and 2016 meaning we’re not as susceptible to market fluctuations. It’s a challenging week operationally as we’ll have three get-ins and three get-outs over the course of just over a week!”

ALARM (the public risk management association) is expecting up to 500 delegates to its two day conference running from Monday 22nd June until Tuesday 23rd June. The main conference will take place in the BIC’s Tregonwell Hall, with a 37 exhibitor strong exhibition in the adjacent Purbeck Hall, where an awards ceremony is being held on the first night of the conference. ALARM has around 1,800 members nationally in the risk, insurance, finance, audit, health and safety, emergency planning and business continuity professions.

Taking into account all three events, approximately £1m will be injected into Bournemouth’s economy through delegate expenditure in the local area.

Recent statistics value Bournemouth’s business tourism at £115m, of which the BIC and Pavilion contribute £65m annually through the conferences and exhibitions staged at the venues. The remaining £50m is a result of conferences, events and meetings at other venues in Bournemouth, often facilitated by the Bournemouth International Conference Bureau (BICB).