03 Jun Field Notes: Glasgow Convention Bureau – Creating Value through Tourism

Conventions come, conventions go, and except for the money the conference attendees spend, too often, these meetings have little impact on the community.

But what if it was about more the money the conference and its attendees contribute to the economy? What if conventions were a catalyst for learning and skill development beyond the walls of the conference center? What if conventions positively changed the destination community and improved the quality of life? The Glasgow Convention Bureau (GCB) has a program designed to do just that. GCB encourages conferences to create a legacy when they visit the city. They even have a “how to” guide to help conference organizers maximize the positive impact they have on the community.

So what does a legacy program look like?

In 2018, Glasgow hosted the World Down Syndrome Congress, the World Federation of Hemophilia Worldwide Congress, and the International Symposium on ALS/MND. In preparation for welcoming these conference attendees, tourism organizations worked with the associations to create tools and training materials to ensure the tourism industry businesses understood the specific needs of these visitors. As a result, the tourism industry gained the knowledge and skills to be more welcoming hosts, and the conference attendees had a better experience. To learn more about this campaign – check out the People Make Glasgow… Welcome report.

The following year Glasgow hosted several medical association conferences, including the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, the European Congress on Obesity, the 8^th Congress of European Microbiologists, the International Association for Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and the British Association for the Study of the Liver. With encouragement from GCB, each of these organizations created public events for the people of Glasgow that included information sharing and training, sign-ups for organ donations and smoking cessation events. For more information on the program – check out the People Make Glasgow … Healthier report. Destination Stewardship implies that DMOs are protecting and enhancing the assets of the destination community. Legacy campaigns, like these campaigns from Glasgow, are examples of building the knowledge capital of the tourism industry and the health of the community as a whole.