Titanic Quarter Limited and Titanic Belfast are putting finishing touches to the Titanic Exhibition Centre as it prepares to open its doors for its first event, The Wedding Journal Show, from 18 – 20 September.
The 5,000 sqm dedicated exhibition and event space, which is due to open in two weeks, has already secured seven major shows that are expected to attract over 20,000 visitors and approximately 1,400 exhibitors. These include, the Holiday Word Show, SelfBuild & Improve Your Home Show, IFEX Exhibition, Love Your Home and Creative Crafts.
The Titanic Exhibition Centre is also set to attract new international and national consumer and trade shows, which are not currently held in Northern Ireland, due to the nearby Titanic Belfast providing an unique marketing angle. This is in addition to ample outdoor exhibition space, strong road, rail and air access and over 20,000 car parking spaces.
Due to its close proximity to city centre hotels, restaurants and other event venues, the double skinned, tensioned fabric venue (120m length, 50 width and 14m height), which is located opposite the Titanic Studios in Titanic Quarter, will help position Belfast as a highly attractive exhibition destination.
Titanic Belfast will assume sales and management responsibility for Titanic Exhibition Centre, offering it either for stand-alone exhibitions or in conjunction with the existing event and banqueting spaces within Titanic Belfast and SS Nomadic.
Conal Harvey, Deputy Chairman of Titanic Belfast Ltd and Executive Vice Chairman for Titanic Quarter Limited, commented, “Two years ago, we met with a number of event organisers to discuss exciting potential of creating a dedicated central Belfast venue capable of hosting large-scale exhibitions. In such a short period of time, we are pleased to be two weeks away from our first show. It is a testimony to the determination and positive attitude of Northern Ireland’s exhibition sector, as well as Belfast City Council’s planning regime.”
He continued, “The Titanic Exhibition Centre further complements the existing offering for conference, banqueting and exhibition facilities in the city. With the Waterfront Hall, the SSE Arena, Titanic Belfast, and now the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast is firmly on the international map for consumer shows and corporate conferences.”
Tim Husbands MBE, Chief Executive of Titanic Belfast, said, “Titanic Belfast opened its doors on the 31 March 2012 and has since welcomed over 2.5million visitors and hosted over 1,000 events. As such, we are thrilled with the opening and to assume sales and management responsibility of the Titanic Exhibition Centre in Titanic Quarter. It will strengthen the cities offering, providing exhibition organisers with a unique mix of inter-changeable and flexible venues, all within close proximity and with strong transport links to the rest of Belfast.”
He continued, “Throughout the process we have developed strong working relationships with the Northern Ireland Event Organisers (NIEO) and we look forward to continuing to work closely with them over the coming years and value their support for this project.”
Exhibition organiser, Edmund Hourican, Managing Director of Business Exhibitions, Dublin and organiser of the Holiday World Exhibition which runs annually in Belfast and Dublin, commented on the value of the new venue, “Bringing exhibitors from USA, China, Spain, Portugal, Middle East, Tunisia, India, Canada as well as local and all-Ireland Hotels and Tourism products, we need a city location with strong transport links, as well as extensive indoor and outdoor space. We welcome and will rely upon the Titanic Exhibition Centre initiative both to secure and to grow our exhibition in the future.”
Clive Corry, Managing Director of Selfbuild Ireland Ltd, commented, “We run the biggest exhibition in Belfast every February. We anticipate bringing new exhibitions to the Titanic Exhibition Centre once built. Belfast has enjoyed 150 per cent growth in business events choosing Belfast in the past three years according to Visit Belfast this is set to continue.”