This summer, a team from Experience Oxfordshire will be in key European cities to showcase the huge range of venues and activities that the county can offer the international business visitor. Experience Oxfordshire is the county’s Local Visitor Economy Partnership and its Venues team is set on growing the region’s share of the global, business visits, meetings, incentives, conferences, and events market.
Oxfordshire is home to a diverse range of venues suitable for everything from biotech conventions to luxury incentive breaks and corporate retreats. These include historic rooms in ancient Oxford colleges – for example a room that was once home to Oscar Wilde or a dining room where CS Lewis (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) used to eat. From riverside venues on the banks of the Thames to a UNESCO world heritage palace or a cosy countryside brewery, Oxfordshire can offer unique experience.
Experience Oxfordshire has produced a Venues Guide that mentions meeting and hospitality places as varied as Keble College; the former prison that is now a Malmaison; rural Caswell manor; the 17th century Sheldonian Theatre, Blenheim Palace, and the brand-new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.
It also lists places of interest for companies seeking incentives packages, including Oxford’s Westgate shopping centre, Bicester Village luxury shopping destination, and the Grade II listed country mansion Heythrop Park.
Business visitors account for 25% of all visits made to the county, and £552 million of spend. Oxfordshire is well placed to further develop its share of this market, according to Experience Oxfordshire’s CEO, Hayley Beer-Gamage: ‘We have a growing number of businesses working with us as part of Experience Oxfordshire Venues, which is enabling us to better showcase Oxfordshire as a destination of choice for business visits and events.’
Paul Black, Head of Business Events at VisitBritain/VisitEngland, sums up Oxfordshire’s appeal:
‘In a very competitive market, Oxfordshire, with its heritage properties, state of the art venues, cultural assets and links to academic excellence and innovative industries, provides a combination of attractive product and intellectual leadership to draw all genres of business event.’
For more information:
https://conference-oxford.com/
Image provided by Warner Hotels