More than £200 million is being invested across Coventry and Warwickshire to cement the region as a leading destination for national and international business tourism.
Investment is being made in transport, the public realm and directly into conference and exhibition venues to improve the experience for organisers looking to bring their events to the region.
Coventry and Warwickshire is benefitting from significant investment as a result of Coventry being UK City of Culture and a host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Coventry City of Culture has already seen £172.6 million direct investment into Coventry, leading to £500 million of regeneration in the city centre.
Local authorities Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council have been driving development across the region. Conference Coventry and Warwickshire, part of the region’s recently launched destination management organisation (DMO), Destination Coventry, has been working to facilitate more business tourism regionally.
Paul Jones, managing director of Conference Coventry and Warwickshire, said: “Coventry and Warwickshire has great growth potential as a prime destination for business tourism and the significant investments being made around the region will help to fulfil that potential.
“While it’s vital that funds are invested to improve venue experience, the investment in transforming transport links and the wider public realm will further establish the region as an attractive proposition for event organisers.”
Coventry Building Society Arena, the region’s largest venue, is currently undergoing a £3.8 million transformation, which will see the creation of the Commonwealth Convention Centre at the site. This joins the recently completed £5.5 million fully‐funded redevelopment project at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry.
In order to attract more visitors to the city, Coventry Railway Station is undergoing an £80 million investment to improve both capacity and accessibility. Coventry City Council is also putting £44 million into a huge public realm improvement programme to regenerate the city centre and public spaces.
Next to the railway station, the Friargate Masterplan is creating a business quarter and an £87 million investment in the new Two Friargate building and the Friargate Hotel joins the significant outlay already at the quarter.
The British Motor Museum in the south of Warwickshire has seen £2 million invested to refurbish its conference and meeting room facilities.
And Eliot Park Innovation Centre in Nuneaton has opened new conference and meeting rooms to support businesses looking to organise meetings and events in the north of the county.
For smaller scale meetings, Meet By The Park recently launched in Leamington Spa and 1 Mill Street in the town offers a flexible‐working environment with meeting room space too.
Paul Jones added: “The region has a vast selection of venues, from huge stadia to small, bespoke venues, and all of them are already seeing the benefits of the profile brought to Coventry and Warwickshire by UK City of Culture and the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“Coventry and Warwickshire is perfectly positioned at the heart of the country and is an ideal location for national and international events already, but this continued public and private investment in conference, exhibition and meeting facilities will attract even more business and leisure events to our region.”
M&IT editor Paul Harvey is a journalist with more than 15 years of experience. He began his career in the local press, working for various titles across the north. Since joining M&IT in 2013, he has become a trusted and respected voice in the sector, championing event professionals and reporting on all aspects of the events industry for the brand.
