A party of international event organisers – from the US, Canada and Russia – were bowled over by the inspirational venues in Cambridge and the region which they were shown during a recent three-day visit.
Meet Cambridge made a successful bid to host the delegation and organised a packed itinerary to showcase a selection of venues and experiences for their conferences and meetings ahead of VisitBritain’s prestigious international MICE exhibition MeetGB at the De Vere Beaumont Estate in Windsor.
The theme for MeetGB 2019 was ‘Royalty’ and the delegation in Cambridge was accompanied by mascot ‘Cam The Corgi’, a prop supplied by VisitBritain to generate content and encourage visibility on social media. Cam was shown a right ‘royal’ time in Cambridge and the Meet Cambridge team were awarded ‘Best in Show’, beating other destinations for the most content shared during the campaign.
The group enjoyed a stay at Newnham College, dined at Jesus College and Trinity Hall and had a private tour of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College.
They also visited other central Cambridge venues: The Møller Centre, The Cambridge Union Society, Gonville & Caius College and DoubleTree Hilton Cambridge City Centre, as well as out of town facilities: Newmarket Racecourse, The National Stud and Imperial War Museum, Duxford.
Punting with Scudamores and a Guided Walking Tour of Cambridge organised by Visit Cambridge & Beyond added to the ‘Cambridge Experience’.
Judith Sloane, Deputy Manager of Meet Cambridge said: “It was a privilege to showcase our venues to the international planners who were really enthusiastic about what they saw. We are hugely grateful to all our venues and the organisations which provided tours, hospitality and experiences for the group.”
Some of the comments from the delegation included: ‘Exceeded my expectations, well organised, balanced, educational and fun’ (Marguerite Florsham, President, Strategy US Meetings & Incentives); ‘The history and opportunities to personalise your conference are one of a kind – I look forward to coming back with my clients’
(Holly Strout, Manager, Global Accounts, HelmsBriscoe, Florida) and ‘The programme was excellent, the choice of Colleges was great as we saw modern and traditional and the punting trip was amazing’ (Ekaterina Ruchkina, Business Development Director, PAC GROUP Company, Moscow).
The week concluded with the team from Meet Cambridge attending the MeetGB exhibition in Windsor where they met MICE buyers from North America and Europe, looking for new venues in which to hold their events.