South Wales venue secures award for its Protect Duty campaign
International Convention Centre Wales (ICC Wales) has won a prestigious international award for its work in educating the global events sector on the incoming Protect Duty (Martyn’s Law).
ICC Wales was announced the winner of the Best Marketing Award at the annual congress of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) in Krakow, Poland, this week. The ICCA Best Marketing Award, which began in 1997, recognises the excellence and outstanding achievements of organisations in their effort to mark their destination or product.
Following a detailed written submission with accompanying video, ICC Wales Sales Director Danielle Bounds and Marketing Director Vanessa Russell gave an on-stage presentation to almost 1,000 ICCA delegates in Krakow, where they succeeded in winning more member votes than three other finalists.
Only the second UK conference venue to win in the 25-year history of the award, ICC Wales secured the title for its tireless work in creating educational resources including its Protect Duty report, delivering informative sessions at industry trade shows and launching the Protect Duty Events Industry Group.
Commenting on the win, ICC Wales CEO Ian Edwards said: “To win this prestigious award is an incredible achievement for the team, our venue and for Wales. We know the esteem in which this award is held by the international meetings industry so to win this accolade thanks to the votes of our colleagues in the ICCA community is a real honour. Securing the ICCA Best Marketing Award is a testament to the dedication of the team in educating not only the UK’s events sector but the global industry on this very important legislation.”
ICCA President Marta Gomes said: ‘’I am so happy that ICC Wales won because the ‘Protect Duty Report’ is a really interesting and important story. It’s not just about marketing a destination, but about improving security in convention centres. It is easily transposable to others too, so people everywhere can learn about the impact the Protect Duty legislation has had on UK venues. As Best Marketing Awards winners, it will have an even wider impact about improving security in all venues, and protecting people who use them for work and for leisure.”
The Protect Duty is a direct result of campaigning by Figen Murray OBE. Figen, who wrote the foreword to the ICC Wales report, is the mother of Martyn Hett who was killed in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017. The new legislation will formalise the responsibilities and actions that publicly accessible locations must take to mitigate the risk of a terrorist attack.
Protect Duty campaigner Figen Murray OBE said: “I am delighted that the team at ICC Wales has received this prestigious award and this fantastic recognition for the important work they have been doing to galvanise the Meetings Industry’s response to the Protect Duty. I am also grateful to the ICCA community for providing a wonderful platform at their Annual Congress to extend this crucial message to a wider audience. The Protect Duty may be UK legislation, but this is a global objective – to mitigate the risks at our event venues, so that the people attending can go home safely at night.”
