EICC taking Convention Edinburgh reins and secures Hyatt as Haymarket hotel partner

The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) has taken charge of the city’s convention bureau services, while hotel giant Hyatt has confirmed that it will be running the venue’s 349-bedroom hotel in the Haymarket area of the city.

The conference centre has taken on the management and operations of Convention Edinburgh, which promotes the city as a meeting, conference, event and incentive destination, and which was temporarily closed in May 2020.

The agreement with City of Edinburgh Council will see the EICC run Convention Edinburgh, to help drive the city’s business events sector, for an initial 18-month period, which can be extended. The conference centre has formed a team, headed by Amanda Wrathall and supported by Jennifer Henry, Lyndsey Rafferty, Debbie Rose, and Jill Spink, who will manage the initiative’s day-to-day running, with duties including reporting to city stakeholders such as a newly formed advisory group.

EICC chief executive Marshall Dallas said the city’s business events sector has been “on the back foot” without the formal backing of a convention bureau since May 2020. "Today’s announcement puts us in a positive position to help create a thriving future for Edinburgh as a business events destination – which in turn brings great benefit to the local economy and our array of city partners,” he added.

Separately, Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced that it has entered a franchise agreement with the EICC for the forthcoming hotel in Haymarket. The property, set to open in 2025, will be Hyatt’s first hotel in Scotland, and which the EICC says will address delegate demand issues it has faced.

M&G Real Estate is funding the hotel and hotel school, which is being delivered by Qmile Group as part of its £350 million Haymarket Edinburgh development. The hotel school and training academy will partner with Edinburgh College, providing qualified candidates for Scotland’s leisure and tourism industry.

Mr Dallas added: “The hotel and hotel school development is central to the EICC’s future as Scotland’s leading conference venue, and aligns with our mission to create an environment which inspires ideas that change the world.”

From left: Debbie Rose, Jennifer Henry, Marshall Dallas, Amanda Wrathall, and Lyndsey Rafferty of the EICC and Convention Edinburgh. Picture: Stewart Attwood.

The EICC is one of the UK and international conference centres featured at major industry showcase Imex Frankfurt 2022, which is currently taking place. That comes after the conference centre last month announced its securing of various high-profile conferences for 2023.