Meeting Modern China at Cambridge Sustainable Tourism Conference 2020

At the end of February the Wellcome Genome Campus Conference Centre attended the second Cambridge Sustainable Tourism Conference 2020 – China Sector, co-organised by Cambridge China Centre and Visit Cambridge & Beyond and held at Hilton Cambridge City Centre Hotel.

The conference was a fantastic platform for local Cambridge businesses to showcase their products and services to Chinese inbound tourism operators.  With over 100 people in attendance, this proved a perfect opportunity for us – as exhibitors – to make valuable connections, showcase our venue, and promote its unique qualities to an important market.  Visitors to our stand were particularly impressed with our accommodation offering and competitively priced delegate packages; they expressed real interest in our facilities and commented how well suited they are to large meetings and events.

We were also able to get to make some new local contacts, whose services could be of interest to delegates attending events at the Wellcome Genome Campus Conference Centre.  We have some following up to do!

The keynote speeches and panel discussions – ‘Cambridge Sustainable Tourism, what has been done and what can be done?’ and ‘The ongoing Coronavirus outbreak hits the tourism industry – How are we facing the challenges & preparing for the future?’ – were highly informative. Emma Thornton CEO of Visit Cambridge and Beyond delivered a particularly enlightening presentation about tourism in Cambridge both today and historically. She gave the audience a valuable insight into the future tourism management plan that is currently being developed for the city, highlighting how local companies – especially those out of town such as ours – would benefit from the proposed plans to encourage tourists to stay for more than a day, and how our involvement in the planning is important.  The talks certainly helped us develop a deeper understanding of the ever-changing, ever-growing tourism market in and around the city.

Like every other event worldwide organised in the last couple of weeks, the conference and its organisers were impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak.  Nonetheless, with some modifications to the schedule, the meeting went ahead successfully with the protection measures in place. The was a well-wishing tree for people to leave messages of support for the victims of COVID-19 in China, and proceeds from fundraising activity at the conference were donated to Addenbrookes Hospital to support them fight the outbreak.

With 55% representing China inbound tourism, and 45% representing local businesses and organisations, it felt like a true coming together of the Cambridge and Chinese events industry. We’d like to congratulate Cambridge China Forum on its success and thank them for the friendly feel of the conference, as well as the delicious, internationally-inspired buffet lunch!  The Hilton was also a great host, providing everyone there with a warm welcome and excellent ongoing hospitality throughout the day.