MeetGB international buyers meets Hampshire

MeetGB visits Hampshire with International event managers from Germany and the US.

Last week we hosted an exclusive group of 10 event delegates showing them why Hampshire and as a county a selection of it’s brilliant locations and a destination of choice with variety and style perfect for conferences, meetings, business events and incentives. Working with MeetGB and Destination Southampton.

The group took part in a two and a half day-long Familiarisation (FAM) trip that featured a range of the destination’s top hotels, venues and sights.  With a yacht sailing experience down the Solent, then staying within 40-acre private grounds of Rhinefield House within the New Forest National Park. Seeing the £30m futuristic academic venue the Spark in the heart of Southampton Solent University. We then moved across county for a stay in the luxurious Aviator by Tag hotel with striking design, resting here before moving on to see Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre and it’s exciting new purpose-built facilities!  It’s safe to say we made our way around a lot of Hampshire before finishing off the event at Bombay Sapphire Distillery learning the history of Laverstoke Mill.

The trip was inclusive of the itinerary for MeetGB, VisitBritain’s London-based showcase of 80 meetings and event suppliers from across the UK who were brought together with 120 global meetings, events and incentive planners to do business at the event, held from 19-20th April. Thousands of one-to-one business meetings between UK conference product suppliers and international event planners took place at the two-day event, with buyers from France, Germany and North America attending, as well as Belgium, Austria, Spain and Switzerland.

Sally Balcombe, the VisitBritain and VisitEngland chief executive said: “MeetGB showcased to global buyers the breadth and quality of the UK’s meetings and events industry, demonstrating our fantastic infrastructure, our ease of access and the quality on offer across so many destinations for the international business events market.
The regional FAM trips were very well received and are a fantastic way for local convention and visitor bureaus such as Hampshire Conference Bureau and Destination Southampton to showcase their world-class offer directly to a high-profile audience of international event buyers and planners. This flagship event gives our suppliers and local destinations the chance to forge valuable business connections and ultimately bring more international conferences, meetings and business events to the UK, boosting the economy.”
MeetGB, hosted by VisitBritain is in partnership with London & Partners, VisitEngland, Visit Wales, VisitScotland and Tourism Northern Ireland was held at Hilton London Bankside.

Alongside the visits the conference then saw delegates attending seminars and networking events on innovations in the sector, boosting their knowledge of the UK as a business events destination. A programme of accredited education sessions for buyers also ran during the event on GDPR and data security, technology and wellbeing.

Andrew Bateman, Tourism Manager at Hampshire County Council “We are delighted as a county to be working with Visit Britain and hosting international conference buyers. Hampshire truly is England at its finest, with a great selection of attractions, miles of stunning coastline, beautiful countryside and exciting urban culture.”

Here at Hampshire Conference Bureau we are always on hand to help find the perfect venue for any event with our FREE venue search service. We offer services for all round event management, to do as much or little as you need. Creating peace of mind for our busy clients, allowing you to focus on other priorities. Or working alongside to each specific detail – Each event and company’s need are bespoke and we understand this.

For more information on this event or future enquiries please contact us on the following –

Telephone: 0345 226 9955

Meet GB Event Executive at Hampshire Conference Bureau:
Sarah Morton, Mortonsarah@hampshireconferencebureau.co.uk

PR Enquiries: Nina De Jesus Egan, admin@hampshireconferencebureau.co.uk