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She has been a senior manager at the AECC for over four years at AECC and is part of the leadership team driving forward the new AECC Development Project, which will see the creation of a new state-of-the-art conference and exhibition facility in Aberdeen in late 2017/early 2018.

Victoria is passionate about business tourism and attended her first Business Tourism Scotland conference in 2013. She explains how attending significantly helped shape and improve her marketing approach.

Why did you attend last year’s Business Tourism Scotland conference?

“Scotland has such a fantastic business tourism offering and I firmly believe we are at the forefront of the industry here. However, it’s crucial we don’t rest on our laurels and become complacent, so I wanted to attend the Business Tourism Scotland conference 2013 to hear what other people in the industry were doing, share best practice and strengthen relationships with suppliers and finally get the chance to meet and reconnect with people I normally only speak to over the phone or by email.”

What did you enjoy most about the conference?

“It’s really important to take time out from the day-to-day business every now and again and consider the bigger picture, and the Business Tourism Scotland conference gave me the perfect opportunity to do that. A number of the presentations were very useful: one in particular focused on marketing to millennials and that was really thought-provoking. It basically challenged us to stop thinking that the marketing techniques the industry has always used in the past will keep on working in the future – the days of just sending out emails to a database of contacts and waiting for the bookings to roll in have definitely gone. The panel discussions were also good and stimulated some very lively debate .”

What have you been able to take away from the conference and how has it helped your business?

“It gave me some real food for thought about how we market ourselves to particular groups and sectors. However, the biggest benefit is how much it has helped me strengthen my relationships with people in the industry. I know now I can lift the phone and speak to people I met there as we have that shared conference experience.”

Why should other people in the industry attend this year’s event?

“Business tourism isn’t an enormous industry in Scotland, so an opportunity like this means you get to meet all the movers and shakers at the same time under one roof. While it’s important for those involved in the business tourism sector to support their own local and domestic business networking events, for our industry, this really is the must-attend date.”

What are you looking forward to this year?

“It’s going to be very interesting to learn about developments in the industry over the past 12 months. 2014 has been one of the most eventful years in Scotland’s recent history and it will be fascinating to hear what impact the last 12 months has had on the industry and what lessons we can learn from having the spotlight of the world on us for the past year. The British Meetings and Events Industry Survey 2014/15 report has just been published and there are some eye-catching figures in there about how corporates viewed Scotland in the lead up to independence referendum and the threats and opportunities we may have encountered had the result been different. We need to capitalise on the profile Scotland has enjoyed this year and I’m looking forward to hearing how the industry will rise to the challenge.”

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