Energy Cities Alliance to refine before expansion

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Member cities such as Aberdeen could be joined by other cities as ECA expands in the future.

The four destination cities that make up the Energy Cities Alliance (ECA) are looking to fine-tune their organisation before opening up the group to any new members.

Following the news that the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) had committed itself to host all future ECA events, business, tourism/MICE manager for ADTA, Gillian Taylor, said it was important to get the alliance's offering right before thinking of expanding its membership to new cities.

"We want to make sure that we get the alliance right for the four members; Aberdeen Convention Bureau, Calgary TELUS Convention Centre, Perth Convention Bureau and ADTA, and then in the future we could open it up to other cities" she told MIME.

Taylor said confidence was high that there was interest from other cities in joining ECA, although the members were unable to give any expected growth figures at this stage.

New member initiatives and the international attention already given to the group has increased the profile of ECA around the world and aroused interest from new potential members.

"We have developed a package called the Energy Transfer Advantage, which is something we offer clients to help them lobby support, boost delegate numbers, network globally, build relationships and support each other at shows," said Taylor.

"We share best practice in convention planning, databases and information, which gives members a competitive edge."

ECA meets regularly in different locations in order to capitalise on members' knowledge, leads and information.

"We have conference-call meetings at least once a month and we meet in person at all the key shows," said Taylor.

"We have a board that meets once a year and a Steering Committee that meets at IMEX and EIBTM, but we also plan to meet at the ICCA Conference in Canada."

Existing ECA members are all key cities in the energy industries for their respective countries, but Taylor said this wouldn't limit their options in terms of the cities the group admitted in the future.

"Our focus is on sharing information and business for more than just oil and gas cities; at the end of the day, it's all business," Taylor concluded.

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