Belfast welcomed 30,000 delegates in 2022 putting the city firmly on the map

Visit Belfast has announced its Northern Ireland Ambassador Award winners for 2022, recognising the contribution which local leaders across business, medicine and academia have made in helping to secure major conference and event wins.

The awards ceremony, which took place at Belfast’s Crowne Plaza hotel, was the first to take place since 2019.

Attracting business events and conferences to NI raise the profile of the region, which helps to support trade and investment, attract talent, showcase sector strengths, accelerate research and help to grow the economy.

The annual Ambassador Awards form part of the recently rebranded Ambassador Circle Programme. Led by Visit Belfast, it is supported by Invest NI, Tourism NI, Queen’s University Belfast, Ulster University, ICC Belfast, Catalyst and Visit Derry.

The Ambassador Circle aims to grow the number of international events hosted here by enlisting the support of industry leaders to promote NI as a leading business and events destination.

Since April, Visit Belfast and its Ambassador Circle have won 33 conferences and events for Belfast which will bring over 16,000 delegates and generate an estimated £23 million for the economy in the coming years.

In line with the Department for Economy’s 10X Vision and the NI Business Tourism Strategy, the Ambassador Awards profiled the strategic events secured for the region across the main 10X Cluster areas.

From a competitive shortlist, 13 winners were recognised as NI’s most influential Ambassadors for their efforts in promoting the region as an inspiring place to meet, visit, work, study, invest and do business and for the contribution and impact that they have made to business, medicine and research.

Ultan Power, Professor of Molecular Virology at Queen’s University Belfast, was awarded the Ambassador Award for Outstanding Services to Society. Professor Power is a world-renowned virologist who was regularly called upon by national and international media during the Covid-19 pandemic. Professor Power was also an expert witness to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee on the “Science of Covid-19” in 2020.

As part of his ambassadorial role working with Visit Belfast, Professor Power secured three major international conferences for the city, attracting over 1,700 delegates and worth £2 million for the local economy.

The Outstanding Lifetime Achievement award was presented to Professor Mark Taylor, lead Consultant in General and Hepatobiliary Surgery at the Mater Hospital and Visiting Professor at Ulster University.

Appointed by the Department of Health as an expert panel member to advise on the transformation of Health and Social Care Services across NI published in the Bengoa Report, Mark also recently chaired the review of General Surgery in NI.

Mark is director for NI at the Royal College of Surgeons and played a lead role advocating for better patient outcomes and the needs of the health service during the pandemic.

Mark is now an avid Ambassador for Belfast and has been instrumental in bringing over five medical and surgical events to NI which have generated a combined economic impact of £4.5 million.

Mel Chittock, interim chief executive officer of Invest NI, said: “The Ambassador Circle plays a pivotal role in helping attract international business events and conferences to NI. Events of this nature help profile our sectors and business capability to a wide international audience. This in turn can help attract inward investors and support trade partnerships. This is why Invest NI continues to support this initiative.

“Representatives across business and academia – our ambassadors – play an important role in helping identify and attract international events here. The collaboration between industry, academia, local government and partner bodies has seen us win some significant events for NI. It is therefore fitting that we recognise the important contribution of these ambassadors.”

Gerry Lennon, chief executive of Visit Belfast, explained: “Over 80% of business events to Belfast are secured through the support of Visit Belfast’s ambassador network as we strategically attract events to the city that not only drive much needed tourism revenue, but that also can support economic development, research and policy objectives.

“It is brilliant to be back celebrating the outstanding work of our ambassadors after a three-year gap. The awards celebrate the talent of our city and region and the important contribution that our 1200 strong network of ambassadors bring to the growing the city’ tourism economy.

“Through hard work and a can-do attitude, Visit Belfast and our industry partners have seen events business in Belfast bounce back to pre-pandemic levels. By welcoming close to 30,000 delegates in 2022, it is evident that Belfast is now firmly on the map and able to compete at the highest level nationally and internationally for high profile business events.

“The ongoing efforts to build on Belfast’s world-class infrastructure is matched by our world-class academics, medical practitioners, and business leaders, who work as passionate advocates to help bring their global networks to Belfast.”

Director of marketing at Tourism NI, Naomi Waite, added: “Business tourism is strategically important to a sustainable visitor economy in NI as it provides midweek, year-round, high spend visitors. The ambassadors recognised encapsulate the essence of a ‘Giant Spirit’ and we are delighted their level of dedication and passion for NI has been recognised.”

Full list of Ambassador 2022 award winners:

· Diaspora Award - Sharon Harroun Peirce

· Best Impact and Legacy event – Sean Fitzsimmons, The Harkin Summit

· Best Sustainable Event - Soroptimist International – Great Britain and Ireland

· Best National Event - 37th Annual British Association of Critical Care Nursing Conference 2022, Professor Bronagh Blackwood, Queen’s University

· Best International Event - European Association of Sport Management, Dr Paul Kitchen

· Ambassador Award for Best Life and Health Science Event - Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (APS) PharmSci 2022 – Professor Ryan Donnelly

· Ambassador Award for Best Technology Event - WoWMoM - IEEE International Symposium on a World of Wireless, Mobile and Multimedia Networks, Professor Luke Chen

· Ambassador Award for Best Food and Drink Event - International Gastronomy Summit – Professor Una McMahon Beattie

· Ambassador Award for Best Business and Professional Services Event - The Law Society of Northern Ireland

· Outstanding Lifetime achievement - Professor Mark Taylor

· Outstanding achievement award - Conor Houston

· Outstanding contribution to the Community – The People’s Kitchen Belfast, Cllr Paul McCusker

· Outstanding Contribution to Society Award - Professor Ultan Power.