Record attendance for Conference and Hospitality Show 2018

The sold-out Conference and Hospitality Show (CHS18) held last week, Tuesday 24 April, at Leeds first direct arena saw a 19 per cent increase in visitor numbers from the previous year with event organisers, PAs and meetings professionals all in attendance.

Over 230 venue and event suppliers travelled to Leeds for CHS18, with 35 per cent of the exhibitors brand new for 2018. Venues with a presence at the show included Magna, Sheffield and St George’s Park, Burton-on-Trent and home to England’s 28-national football teams and 13 full size pitches on its 330-acre site to intimate spaces such as D&D, London and Leeds and the Haversham Arms Hotel, Helmsley.

CHS18 also saw more destinations exhibiting than ever before, including Venues of Excellence, Destination Bristol, Lime Venues Portfolio and Destination Wolverhampton. National organisations Pride of Britain and Visit Scotland returned to the show, promoting the wider UK offering to visitors.

Keynote Jimmy Garcia held a captive audience with his inspiring story of success, including his experiences catering for internet giant’s Google and Facebook.

Speakers Julia Charles-Wiginton and our very own PA Life sponsored session by Abigail Jones provided fascinating insight into their areas of expertise, providing the audience with practical tools to make positive changes and add value to their businesses and individual roles in the events industry. A session on GDPR from senior director of marketing at Cvent, David Chalmers, proved exceptionally popular – with only a month to go until the deadline, event planners were keen to gain knowledge and understanding about best practice.

Emma Cartmell, chief executive officer at CHS Group commented: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to deliver a 19 per cent uplift in visitors for our exhibitors and sponsors, whilst giving our buyers a great experience in Leeds.

“Our next big event is the CHS awards evening on May 31 in Manchester so we’re looking forward to seeing some of our exhibitors and attendees from the show at the ceremony.”

2019 will be the shows 10th year and is set to be a fantastic celebration of the group’s achievements over the past decade. CHS19 will take place on April 30 2019 at Leeds first direct arena.

If you were at the event and visited us on the PA Life stand, then don’t forget the exclusive PA Life Club membership saving that we were offering at the show. To take advantage of the offering you still have time to contact PA Life Club manager Freddi Jackson to secure your membership!