Waterfront Hall hailed as one of the world’s top conference centres

Last year has proven to be the Waterfront Hall’s most successful year yet, as a leading player within the international conferencing market.

Since April 2003, around 50,000 delegates have attended around 170 conferences, exhibitions and business events at the Belfast venue. It is estimated that this lucrative market will have generated up to £5 million in delegate spend by the end of this financial year.

Andrew Kyle of the Waterfront Hall, said: “Belfast Waterfront Hall has consistently been one of the world’s finest conference centres since we first opened for business and 2003 has shown that we have not only sustained this position, but are making further inroads into this increasingly dynamic and competitive global market.”

The Waterfront Hall, as one of the foremost international conferencing destinations, has been officially placed as one of the top seven conference centres in the world for the last three years in succession by the Association Internationale des Palais de Congres (AIPC) – the leading professional body for congress centre management and executive world-wide.

A variety of high profile conferences and business events have recently taken place at the Waterfront Hall and the venue's success looks set to continue. The large majority of business event scheduled to take place at the venue over the coming years are prestigious national and international conferences, with a large proportion of these being a result of successful ‘bids’ to national and international associations and organizations outside Northern Ireland.

High profile business events set to take place at the Waterfront Hall this year include those for the Association for Public Excellence, Rotary International, and the British Medical Association.

It is estimated that almost 40% of all national and international conferences coming to Belfast over the next few years will be held at the Waterfront Hall and conference and business bookings at the venue currently extend to 2007.

(KMcA)