The All Party Parliamentary Group for Events (APPG) and the Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP) has submitted a series of recommendations to the Covid Recovery Commission.
The commission was set up to review the impact that the pandemic has had on the levelling-up agenda – the government’s economical and industrial strategy to address geographic inequalities in the UK.
The commission will present practical ideas to Government in the coming months to support higher productivity levels, encourage business investment and promote a culture of innovation across the UK.
The recommendations put forward by the APPG for Events and BVEP aim to aid the levelling-up agenda and the recovery of the economy by highlighting how events can play a greater role through the following areas:
- Events to provide a platform for UK to showcase its industrial, scientific and cultural strengths to meet its new global ambitions.
- Great co-ordination across government departments of resources and sponsorship for events, leading to the creation of an at arms-length strategic body to drive the growth of international events held in the UK.
- Inclusion of event strategies in local authority plans to create programmes of festivals and enhance place-making opportunities
- Included in the Tourism Sector Deal as part of the Industrial Strategy is the use of events to extend the holiday season and also provide out of main holiday season activities and to also use event to spread activity across the Country.
- Introduction of Tourism Zones, as recommended in the Industrial Strategy Tourism Sector Deal, to focus on tourism development to include new and revitalised event infrastructure.
- Increase resources within VisitBritain for direct sales representation and for funding for the Business Events Growth Programme to attract, grow and create international event activity in the UK.
The recommendation document also included the role events could play in boosting the UK’s position on the world stage, post-Brexit.
“The Events Industry considers it has a unique role to play in revitalising the visitor economy, but even more broadly offering a strong platform on which the UK can showcase its industrial, scientific and cultural strengths to the world as part of its global ambitions,” the statement read.
You can read the full statement here.
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.
