The Welsh Government and industry partners exhibited at the leading business events exhibition – ibtm world in Barcelona 28-30 November – Venue Cymru, Llandudno has been given the green light for a £2.8 million project to improve the north Wales conference and meetings offer.

Work on refreshing Venue Cymru’s offer as a business events venue will begin in May 2018 with a view to work being complete by the end of the year. Almost £1 million of EU funding has been secured for the development. The project is part of the Welsh Government’s EU funded Tourism Attractor Destination programme, led by Visit Wales.

Venue Cymru hosts in excess of 800 separate conference and events every year.

Conwy County Borough Council, owners of Venue Cymru recognised that the remodeling of key spaces within the complex was critical to ensure that Venue Cymru could evolve with the needs of this important market, and attract further business events to Wales.

A programme of reconfiguration of the current building will allow for better use of the existing space to accommodate the varied programme of shows and events; with the improved quality of the offer attracting more visitors to North Wales and Venue Cymru, helping to extend the visitor season.

Tourism Minister, Dafydd Elis-Thomas, said:

“This investment in Venue Cymru is a welcome recognition of the importance of the centre to the business events sector in north Wales – and investment is critical in order for us to have the variety and quality of facilities and attractions that the market demands. “Wales currently attracts under 2% of the value of business conferences and meetings for the UK as a whole but there is significant potential to draw events from UK and international associations, public & third sector meetings, corporate meetings and team building events to Wales’s award-winning venues and business destinations. Business Events are a priority for the Welsh Government, with one of the extended benefits of this market being the high percentage of delegates subsequently returning to the area for future holidays. “Wales has built an enviable track record of successfully hosting many of the world’s biggest events. We’re now looking at building on our experience to attract more leading business events to Wales – our attendance at global events such as ibtm world is key in setting out our ambition as real players in this market and to raise Wales’ profile as a business events destination.”

Conwy’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Cllr Louise Emery added

“We are delighted the Welsh Government has recognised the importance of this exciting project. Venue Cymru already contributes more than £33m per annum to the North Wales economy supporting hundreds of jobs. This development will help us build on this, further growing Conwy’s valuable business tourism and events offer.”

Visit Wales is exhibiting at ibtm world with industry partners from Wales: Cardiff, ICC Wales and the Vale Resort. ibtm world is the global event for the business events/conferences/meetings sector and the Welsh Government has recently announced a new business events approach with the ambition of attracting major business conferences and events to Wales.