Nottingham Conferences is launching a year long awareness campaign highlighting the million pound benefit of holding conferences and events in the Nottingham and East Midlands region. The brand representing the University of Nottingham’s conference facilities will have brought £64.3 million* to the local economy by the end of 2008, a figure it is looking to increase in 2009 through a series of sales and marketing activities supported by a fully integrated PR campaign. Planned tactics will not only demonstrate the benefits of Nottingham as a business destination, but will highlight the importance of a local support network bringing and keeping business in the local community.

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ExCeL London has been named 2008 Business Venue of the Year at the fifth annual Visit London Awards, beating off strong competition from other finalists. The prestigious award ceremony, held at The Royal Albert Hall on 27th November honoured excellence in all aspects of business tourism in the Capital. ExCeL was named Business Venue of the Year in recognition of its:

• Excellent facilities and services and continual investment in maintaining standards
• Innovative marketing and creative sales techniques
• Evolution and efforts to ensure accessibility for all
• Awareness of environmental issues, work with the local community and actions taken towards to ensuring sustainability
• Responsibility towards staff training & development and internal motivation

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Upscale hotel and conference group Principal Hayley today announced a significant investment of £8.1 million in the refurbishment of Beaumont House in Old Windsor.

The development project started earlier this year to redevelop the White House into a luxury hotel. As part of the project, a 19th century chapel, which was originally part of the St Stanislaus College was uncovered. It was previously boarded up and Principal Hayley has embarked on an ambitious plan to restore the chapel and re-launch it as a unique private dining and banqueting room. The total refurbishment and restoration programme is due to complete in November and will solidify Beaumont’s position as one of the largest conference venues in Europe. It will offer three distinct areas that will make up the newly created Beaumont Estate.

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Whittlebury Hall Management Training Centre, Hotel and Spa in Northamptonshire has supplemented its standard day delegate and 24hr delegate packages over the Summer months with a set of complementary morning and afternoon motivational sessions, specifically designed to encourage effective learning.

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On June 29th Hilton hotels throughout the UK and Ireland will be inviting members of their communities to travel “around the world in a day” as part of their biggest ever national charity event.

Around the World in a Day participants will collectively aim to travel the circumference of the earth - 24,901.55 miles - by taking part in one of two events: the competitive Team Challenge or the more relaxed Miles4fun, designed for families. (more…)

Over thirty high profile London hotels and attractions have signed up to earn awards for their environmental credentials under the London Development Agency’s Green Tourism for London scheme.

Applicants including the Ritz, the O2 Centre, London Zoo, the Royal Lancaster Hotel and the Cavendish have began to implement their own tailor made ‘green action plans’.

The scheme, launched in Oct 2007, aims to help improve the environmental performance of the tourism industry and enable tourists to choose the greenest places to visit during their stay.
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Eight talented employees at the award-winning five star Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa in St Andrews, Fife, have been awarded a prestigious training scholarship by the Hospitality Industry Trust (HIT) Scotland.The talented employees will undertake placements in establishments both at home and abroad. The scholarships include world-class training in one of the most prestigious hotel schools in the world - The Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne in Switzerland; a two-week structured training programme at the famous ‘seven-star’ Burj Al Arab property in Dubai; and management experience in renowned UK hotels.
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The Ty Newydd Country Hotel has invested more than £100,000 in a state-of-the-art wood gasifying biomass boiler system. The investment has been supported by a grant from the Wood Energy Business Scheme (WEBS), established by Forestry Commission Wales on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government, and an interest-free loan from the Carbon Trust.
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Renowned as one of Edinburgh’s most iconic landmark buildings, the Caledonian Hilton is set to receive a New Year investment of £22 million to retain its position as a world class full service hotel. The investment, which comes from new owners, The Caledonian Operating Company Ltd, will commence in mid January.

The overall strategy for the hotel will include the creation of a courtyard lounge, the relocation of the main hotel restaurant and a substantial investment in upgrading the hotels bedrooms.
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2007 was a good year for the UK hotel industry with double-digit growth in revenue per available room (revPAR) in the capital and a healthy increase across the regions. Latest results from the HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte¹ show that during 2007 revPAR in London increased by 10.8%.
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