WHERE TO MEE T
GL AS G O W
The mighty city recently gained Scotland’s first Innovation District, and major infrastructure projects are in the offing. Jools Stone reports
it with handsome venues, alongside scores of cultural attractions and world-beating knowledge institutions. Add in its proximity to stunning national parks, a range of design-conscious hotels and a surfeit of hospitality venues, and it’s hard to see what, if anything, the city’s missing. Not that there’s any complacency here, as
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evidenced by the £200 million expansion of the Scottish Event Campus (SEC), which will see new facilities and outdoor spaces at the SSE Hydro, Armadillo and the former Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, expected to generate £123 million for Glasgow. Te city is one of Europe’s leading conference destinations. According to Aileen Crawford, Glasgow Convention Bureau’s head of conventions, its success can be attributed to expertise and institutional heritage. “Glasgow is a conference city that understands the importance of its knowledge hub economy,” she says. “More than 60 per cent of conferences taking place in the city this year are linked to areas of world-class research from our academic institutions.” Te medical sector is especially well
represented. Glasgow is hosting numerous conferences this year with markedly strong and direct public health messaging, such as the European Congress on Obesity, the British Association for the Study of the Liver and the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine. Te Convention Bureau plans to drive the conversation resulting from these events out into the community, showing how conferences not only benefit a city’s economy but also have a wider impact. More than £1.1 billion has been ploughed into
the city’s infrastructure as part of the Glasgow City Region City Deal, creating Scotland’s first Innovation District earlier this year. Tis area is already home to the Technology and Innovation Centre but also promises to deliver a hotbed of new technologies and ideas, hopefully attracting conferences linked to the region’s
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eemed the world’s friendliest city by Rough Guides in 2016, Glasgow offers no shortage of assets for event planners. Te city’s mercantile heritage has blessed
internationally renowned centres for offshore renewable energy, transport systems, space applications and high-value manufacturing. In addition to a raſt of projects completed
thanks to City Deal funding (these include Medicity Scotland in North Lanarkshire, Tontine in Merchant City and the University of Glasgow’s Imaging Centre of Excellence, to name just a handful), the city is also expecting a range of transport improvements, including an upgrade of Motherwell train station and the creation of a new bridge crossing the M8 motorway in Sighthill. Glasgow airport serves
just under ten million passengers a year across more than 100 routes. In April, the airport made Scottish aviation history with Emirates introducing the nation’s first scheduled A380 service. Further developments are expected later this year, when the airport launches its 2040 Master Plan. Glasgow’s already sophisticated hotel offering
will be further strengthened by an influx of more than 2,000 new rooms arriving in the next two years, including the opening of Moxy and Courtyard by Marriott at the SEC, and Maldron and Clayton in the city centre. Tese will join recent openings such as Motel One, the city’s largest hotel, and the Radisson Red (see overleaf ). Te city’s food scene continues to develop
apace, with two new street-food venues that can be booked privately, the Argyle Street Arches and Dockyard Social. Both reflect the city’s rich and varied larder, offering a wealth of craſt beer and ethically sourced food vendors.
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Opposite page: The River Clyde Above: The Gallery of Modern Art Below: The distinctive SEC Armadillo auditorium
THEASIS/MARIOGUTI/ISTOCK
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