The Business of Events Senior Leadership Forum will take place on 17 March at The Mermaid London after being postponed because of last year’s UK general election.
In the wake of the coronavirus, the forum’s planners have sought advice from Government and Public Health England and confirmed the event will go ahead despite the coronavirus outbreak but restrictions and enhanced health measures will be in place.
The programme for the one-day event will kick off with a talk from Stephen Darke, head of tourism at the Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, on the new government’s priorities and what this means for the UK event sector.
A discussion around the impacts and challenges of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak on the events sector will follow and include representatives from some of the industry’s largest associations and organisations including IBTM, Cvent, PCMA and London & Partners.
The Tourism Sector Deal, launched by former prime minister Theresa May last year, will be discussed along with next steps and actions for the industry.
The panel will include Kurt Jansen from the Tourism Alliance; Andy Lenthall from PSA, Kate Nicholls from UK Hospitality and Joss Croft from UKInbound which recently requested financial assistance from the government to help the tourism and hospitality industry to combat the impact of coronavirus.
The final session of the day will be delivered by Giles Smith, deputy director for Heritage, Tourism, and Cultural Diplomacy, who will give an insight into the future landscape of the UK events sector from a government perspective.
Additional sessions include the State of the Union, with representatives from Meet England; VisitScotland; Visit Wales and London & Partners which will focus on the challenges and opportunities post European Union.
This year’s London series will also include an invitation-only Senior Leadership Dinner, which will follow the Forum and be held at 10–11 Carlton House Terrace, home to the British Academy, in partnership with Searcys.
The dinner will be attended by the new minister of tourism, Nigel Huddleston MP, along with several government representatives and senior leaders from across the UK events sector.
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
