BIC en route to highly contended industry award
The Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) could become the World’s Best Congress Centres according to world industry association, the International Association of Congress Centre (AIPC). The AIPC will announce the 3 finalists and the winner at their annual conference on July 1st in Singapore.

This year the AIPC received 27 entrants, backed by a total of 804 client references, and 17 made it through to the second round. The BIC will be up against other international venues, although has a good chance having been voted Number One Town Convention Centre in a national conference industry poll by Conference and Incentive Travel magazine last year.

Peter Gunn, Managing Director of the BIC and Pavilion said of the announcement: “This award is based on feedback from clients so it means a lot that we have been nominated for the finals in July. To win would be a fantastic achievement but to know our feedback is so positive that we qualified for the awards is very gratifying and means we are moving in the right direction.”

BIC strengthens its team
Tara Phillips has recently joined the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) and Pavilion Theatre’s Conferences and Exhibitions team as Marketing Communications Executive. Responsible for the marketing and PR around these corporate events, Tara will also be working alongside Karina Gregory of the Bournemouth International Conference Bureau (BICB) to help promote the town as a key business destination in the UK, as well as raising the corporate profile of the BIC and Pavilion and having a hand in internal communications.

UNISON back at the BIC
UNISON, the UK and Europe’s biggest public sector union, is this week, back at the (BIC) for its annual conference (17th – 20th June). With up to 3,000 delegates expected to attend the six day event, it will contribute approximately £4 million to the town’s local economy through business tourism.

UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, said: “The BIC is a great venue for our conference with the right facilities and friendly, helpful staff. I know that our delegates look forward to visiting Bournemouth and enjoying what it has to offer after a hard day’s debating.”

The union has already confirmed that its annual conference will be back at the BIC in 2010 and 2012.

BIC has Just the Ticket!
As a result of a growth in its website ticket sales, the BIC has launched an innovative parking scheme offering visitors a guaranteed parking space in the BIC multi-storey car park.

On selected nights, visitors can pre-pay and reserve a parking space when booking tickets at the Ticket Offices or at a later date online. The 650 Pay and Display parking spaces at the BIC are open to the general public. At popular events, parking can be limited but this new service allows visitors to purchase a £6.50 ticket in advance to guarantee a space, when arriving between 5.00 and 9.00pm.

Mark Broadley, Operations Manager at the BIC and Pavilion said: “Finding a parking space can be an issue at the popular concerts so we have launched this reserved parking scheme to help eliminate this. Arriving late for an event can mean having to wait until the interval before being admitted. Pre-paying and guaranteeing a car parking space will cut out the worry and stress of parking your car for these concerts.”

For more information on the reserved parking scheme, visit http://www.bic.co.uk/parking or contact the Ticket Office on 0844 576 3000.