Tourism drive underway

In a drive to attract more business trips to the region, Exeter & the Heart of Devon, the Tourism Partnership promoting East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon and South Devon has announced its attendance at two important international tourism conferences in February – Confex and ExploreGB.

Confex, held over two days on 18 and 19 February at Olympia in London, is a key industry event for companies involved in organising, running, marketing or selling meetings, conferences and exhibitions. 

Joining forces with Sandy Park, Exeter's award-winning conference and banqueting centre and home to Devon's Premiership rugby team, the Exeter Chiefs; is Woodbury Park Hotel and Golf Club, one of the official team bases for Rugby World Cup 2015 which will be home to Georgia and Romania.  Exeter & the Heart of Devon will be exhibiting on the Visit England Rugby World Cup 2015 stand at Confex.

The second conference, ExploreGB, is being held on 26 to 27 February at Ascot Racecourse, Berkshire. VisitBritain’s brand new, flagship event providing Great British & Irish tourism suppliers and destinations the chance to meet over 250 international travel buyers from 40 countries.

Victoria Hatfield, Economy & Tourism Manager at Exeter City Council, said: “Attending Confex and ExploreGB presents opportunities to raise the profile of Exeter & the Heart of Devon to potential clients looking to host events in the area. 

“Exeter is gaining a fantastic reputation for hosting international events, meetings and conferences – such as Rugby World Cup 2015.  The city has great transport links in the UK and from mainland Europe. By attending these events, we are sending out a strong message that Devon welcomes overseas businesses and visitors.”

One of Exeter & the Heart of Devon’s main aims is to increase the number of business trips to the region for the benefit of the local economy.  Recent figures reveal that there were 179,000 business trips made to Exeter & the Heart of Devon in 2013, which contributed to £58.3 million in the local economy. 

With Exeter being an official Host City for Rugby World Cup 2015, Exeter & the Heart of Devon is seeking to maximise national and international tourism benefits from this high profile international sporting event. 

It is estimated that Rugby World Cup 2015 will bring £39 million worth of economic activity to Exeter with an additional 165,000 visitors to the city, 12,000 of these from overseas.