To that end, the government has founded its new Luxembourg Convention Bureau, which was presented to the press on Tuesday at the Cercle de Luxembourg. The Luxembourg Convention Bureau combines the skills and competencies of the Luxembourg City Tourist Office and the Ministry of the Economy.
As Minister for Tourism Lex Delles explained, Luxembourg City will not be the only part of the country to benefit. Instead, he announced that entire country will benefit economically from the development of the bureau.
Delles highlighted that the sales revenue resulting from a professional event is much higher than the revenue resulting from leisure tourists. The areas that will benefit directly from conferences are the businesses or institutions hosting conferences, local transport, accommodation services, and catering.
As Delles explained, the direct benefits per business tourist lie around the €300 mark, around three times as much as a conventional tourist.
Both the state and the Luxembourg City authorities will share the duty of funding the new bureau. This year's budget stands at €1.7 million, a figure which will rise to €2 million per year as of 2020. The authorities have hired a business tourism specialist, François Lafont, whose CV boasts the successes of St Etienne and Toulouse, to promote the professional events sector.
The government's goal is to increase the number of professional events organised in Luxembourg by 20%. The question resulting from this goal is whether another LuxExpo will be built.
Mayor of Luxembourg City, Lydie Polfer, responded that the LuxExpo will remain in Kirchberg for as long as there is no alternative, as per the minister's stance on the issue. She explained that the municipal council of the capital is committed that the LuxExpo remains connected to public transport, notably the tram and trains. She dismissed the idea of building another exhibition centre in the middle of nowhere without taking transport into consideration.
The previous government had been considering a site near the "Kalchesbréck" as a potential new LuxExpo site. However, Delles did not confirm whether the government is pursuing these plans, stating only that the ministry is researching potential locations.
