Monday Jan 15, 2007
The Casino Advisory Panel yesterday issued its final report with recommendations of areas in which large casinos should be licensed. 8 areas were recommended, with London recommended to receive one new successful licence in the Borough of Newham.
ExCeL London, the international and Conference Centre, attracts more business visitors than any other London venue: 1.5 million people from 197 countries visited the venue in 2006.
ExCeL hosts to 8 out of the 10 most significant top trade shows in London and is also the Capital's leading venue for a large number of corporate, public and association conventions of up to 20,000 delegates, including the recently announced Gastro 2009, which is the largest ever medical conference to be held in London, with 15,000 delegates. ExCeL also hosts two of the UK's largest consumer shows - The British International Motor Show and the London Boat Show - and is a key 2012 venue with 6 Olympic and 4 Paralympic sports.
Commenting on the CAP recommendation that a large casino licence should be granted to Newham, Jamie Buchan, Chief Executive, ExCeL London: "I believe that the location of a large casino in Newham can, if carefully managed and integrated into a wider leisure development, act as a catalyst for further regeneration and employment within this ambitious borough."
Buchan continued: "ExCeL London is already the key venue for business events in the Capital and plans to create a destination of world standing for both leisure and business. The already excellent transport infrastructure will continue to be developed as routes from Stratford International Station. New services to the adjacent London City Airport and the Crossrail connectivity at Custom House for ExCeL come on stream. The opportunity to incorporate a casino within our plans could prove significant in attracting further leisure operators to the ExCeL campus ensuring that we provide the world class exhibition and 3,500 capacity conference centre and supporting hotel, leisure and entertainment facilities which is vital to the London plan."
Plans to expand ExCeL London, the international exhibition & conference centre could see its impact on the UK economy reach £1.5bn a year by 2012, research shows (London East Research Institute at the University of East London). This is equal to the economic impact generated by all the West End theatres a year. Phase 2 will provide an extra 36,000sqm of multi-purpose space with supporting hotel, leisure and entertainment facilities.