Visit Belfast welcomed around 100 of Belfast and Northern Ireland’s academic, medical and professional elite to Belfast’s newest visitor attraction and conference facility, HMS Caroline earlier this month to recognise their focused efforts in positively promoting the city as an inspiring place to meet, share ideas, and do business.
The annual Belfast Ambassador Awards form part of the Conference Ambassador Programme, established in 1999 to enlist the help of local influencers from a range of sectors including medicine, pharmaceuticals, ICT, agriculture and public administration. To date, over 70% of all business events are secured by the help of an ‘ambassador’ who can use their influence to persuade their organisation, or association, to host their next major event in Belfast or Northern Ireland.
Gerry Lennon, Chief Executive, Visit Belfast, said:
“Belfast’s reputation as a conference destination is growing. Just last year, Visit Belfast won conference business for the city worth £45 million to the local economy. Of the 70 conferences secured, 38 – more than half – were secured with the help of a local ambassador.
“The ambassador network now includes over 1,000 leading professionals from multiples fields of expertise who work with us to attract conferences from across the UK, Ireland, Europe and the rest of the world.
“This peer-endorsement of Belfast is vital and we are grateful to the professionals who volunteer their time, knowledge, insights and passion to help us promote the city, and Northern Ireland, to conference organisers, agents and associations where contacts, recommendations, experience and relationships are vital.
“With the opening of the extended Belfast Waterfront, and venues like HMS Caroline, we now have a quality conference product that we can be proud of. With such a range of venues, hotels, attraction and a network of ambassadors fighting our corner, it is no wonder that Belfast and Northern Ireland are making a mark internationally.”
Among the 10 honours, the prestigious Belfast Ambassador of the Year award for 2016 was won by Janice Smyth from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The RCN Congress, which will be held over five days in 2018, will take place in the Belfast Waterfront and is expected to welcome more than 5,000 delegates to Belfast, contributing around £5 million to the local economy.
Janice accepted her award saying, “I am very proud of the City of Belfast and its people. I am therefore delighted that the Council of the Royal College of Nursing agreed that RCN Congress would be held in Belfast in 2018.
“Visit Belfast has made a significant contribution in marketing Belfast as a world-class destination for business and leisure. I have had the pleasure of working alongside Visit Belfast in a number of staff initiatives and UK conferences. I consider it a great honour to be named Belfast Ambassador of the Year”.
Susie McCullough, from Belfast Waterfront, who sponsored the Ambassador of the Year Award also commented:
“We’re delighted that Janice Smyth has been named Ambassador of the Year. Janice has worked tirelessly to help secure the prestigious RCN Congress for Belfast. Having worked with RCN on other events over many years we look forward to welcoming their congress in 2018. Recognised as the UK’s largest and most prestigious nursing congress, the event is set to attract around 5,000 delegates and will reap huge economic benefits for the city.”
Visit Belfast leads the Business Ambassador Programme on behalf of Invest Northern Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland.
The Winners (Award sponsor in brackets):
- Celine McStravick – Results Based Accountability (HMS Caroline)
- Bronagh Blackwood – European Federation for Critical Care Nursing (Abbey Conferences and Events)
- Derek McCallan – Commonwealth Local Government Association (Jurys Inn)
- Gary Robinson – OWASP AppSec 2017 (Happening Conferences & Events)
- Sandya Tirupathi – British Paediatric Neurology Association Annual Conference (The Fitzwilliam Hotel)
- Philip Ellis – 41 Club & Tangent National Conference (Radisson Blu)
- Brendan Dromey – EPS Conference on Plasma Physics (Ramada Encore)
- Peter Gray – European Social Science History Conference (Hastings Hotels)
- Mark Cooke – Vespa World Days (Titanic Belfast)
- Ambassadors of the year : Janice Smyth Royal College of Nursing (Belfast Waterfront)