Brighton has been praised for its top tourism skills following a high profile visit of European Ministers.
The delegates of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe enjoyed fish and chips on the pier and a trip to the Brighton Museum during their visit in April.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has since commended Brighton & Hove City Council’s tourism arm VisitBrighton for the way the city and its venues hosted the event for the 400 delegates from 47 states.
Cllr Geoffrey Bowden, cabinet member for culture, recreation and tourism, said:
“Brighton & Hove has demonstrated its credentials as a conference destination on the world stage during the visit of the Council of Europe.
“As part of the visit, justice ministers and other delegations enjoyed dinner at the Royal Pavilion and fish and chips on the iconic Brighton Pier. This highly prestigious event is estimated to be worth more than £1 million to the local economy in spending as well as global exposure.
“Since January, VisitBrighton has secured future conference business that will deliver around £80 million in economic benefit to the city. It’s expected that the team will be able to build on this from the exposure the city has received.”
The newly refurbished Brighton Centre was home to the main conference. A reception was held for 250 delegates at Brighton Museum and a temporary exhibition was set up which included a copy of the famous constitutional document the Magna Carta.
The Royal Pavilion was used for a private dinner for the Heads of Delegation and The Thistle Hotel was used as their headquarters.