Committee publication · Correspondence · 9 June 2026
Letter from The Business of Events and the Events Industry Alliance, regarding business events, 2 June 2026
From: Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Inquiry: Major events
Summary
The Business of Events and Events Industry Alliance write to protest DCMS and VisitBritain's decision to reduce the business events team from nine to two staff and abolish the Business Events Growth Program. They argue this undermines UK competitiveness in a £70 billion sector, citing the BEGP's 35:1 return on investment and warning that the UK now has a smaller business events team than 25 European competitors.
Key findings
- DCMS and VisitBritain have cut the VisitBritain business events team from 9 to 2 staff and abolished the Business Events Growth Program entirely
- BEGP delivered 35:1 return on investment and £60.6 million direct economic return since 2018 from £1.8 million investment; attracted 167 events across UK cities beyond London
- Business events account for 17% of all UK visitor visits and the sector supports over 600,000 jobs with £70 billion annual value
- UK now has smaller business events team and budget than 25 European countries including Austria, France, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland
- Signatories argue decision sends wrong message to international audiences, hands advantage to European competitors, and contradicts government's 50m visitor target by 2030
Tone
AdversarialTopics
Key actors
The Business of Events, Events Industry Alliance, DCMS, VisitBritain, All Party Parliamentary Group for Events, Association of Event Organisers, ICCA UK & Ireland
Notable line
“We now find ourselves here in the UK with a smaller national business events team, and budget, than Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece …”
Key Quotes
“By VisitBritain's own research and statistics, the BEGP delivered a 35-1 return on investment and £60.6 million in direct economic return since 2018, from a total government investment of less than £1.8 million.”
“As a result of this reduction, we are now the only major economy without a fully funded and resourced business events team, which will impact our ability to compete effectively”
“Business events are not tourism; they drive trade, exports and inward investment, supporting business and communities in every part of the country.”
“This also signals that the UK is simply not serious about growing its event economy or being seen as a serious player in the global business events market”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗