Edinburgh venue hails 'significant milestone' as in-person conferences return post-pandemic

The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) will next week see the return of in-person conferences for the first time since the outset of the pandemic.

Delegates are set to gather for the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine’s fifth annual conference - BSLM2021 - taking place at the capital venue between Thursday and Saturday.

The EICC has been Edinburgh’s main vaccination centre since February and is also one of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s main venues this August.

However, the facility’s chief executive Marshall Dallas said getting back to the holding of industry and business conferences marked a significant milestone for his team.

The EICC in Edinburgh opened in 1995 and has since been host to almost 1.5 million delegates, more than 3,500 events and has generated some £720 million in economic impact for Edinburgh and the surrounding area.

“It would be an understatement to say we’re pleased to get back to what we do best by welcoming this important healthcare conference for the BSLM,” he said.

“It’s a significant moment to be on the cusp of opening our doors to a major conference and, of course, as we return to events, the health and safety of all attendees and our team is our top priority.”

Next week’s conference is the UK’s top event dedicated to lifestyle medicine - an established medical discipline aimed at improving health and wellbeing, and tackling chronic, lifestyle-related disease.

Dr Rob Lawson, retired East Lothian-based GP, and BSLM chairman and founder, said: “How clinicians and healthcare systems can support people to live healthier lives is one of the key challenges of our age – and this is the core focus of our conference.”

The EICC opened in 1995 and has since been host to almost 1.5 million delegates, more than 3,500 events and has generated some £720 million in economic impact for Edinburgh and the surrounding area.

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