It is a major boost for our aim to secure a regional convention centre which would be part of any potential casino development. Leader of Newcastle City Council, Coun John Shipley, said:”We are pleased to have been short-listed for a regional casino. However, our driving ambition is the creation of a regional convention centre – the only way to realise this is through the casino route.
"NewcastleGateshead has turned down 40 major events with potentially 40,000 delegates because the region did not have a suitable conference venue – that’s a loss of £20 million over the last three years.
"A regional convention centre would pull millions of pounds into the local economy every year which would have significant spin-off benefits for hotels, restaurants and cultural attractions.”
Newcastle, together with Gateshead, has grown significantly as a conference destination. In 2004, the city was selected by 9.5 per cent of organisers, with The Sage Gateshead, Metro Radio Arena, St James’ Park and the larger hotels among the favourite venues. However, other large scale conferences have been lost due to the lack of a major purpose built conference venue.
An economic impact assessment by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2004 found a convention centre in Newcastle could directly generate an extra £63 million a year in income to the local economy and create up to1100 sustainable jobs. Making Newcastle a great destination for conferences would complement our drive to make Newcastle one of the world’s leading science cities.
Now that the city council’s bid has been short-listed it will go through to the next round of the process where the proposal will be rigorously examined before final decisions are taken.
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