Excel London says it has hosted 60% more US events over the past 18 months, with 55% of them run by major American technology companies, in a sign of growing North American demand for London as a venue.
The figures were shared at IMEX America in Las Vegas, months after the venue’s executive director, James Rees, joined the “Great Together” trade mission to the US. Excel’s new 25,000sqm ICC expansion, a £220m addition taking the venue to 125,000sqm – has already hosted more than 30 major international events since opening, part of a wider 400 events and four million visitors the venue welcomes annually.
It expects to have held 18 international association congresses by the end of its first two years, and has flagship bookings from Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, Gartner and Cisco, the latter taking exclusive use of the entire venue in early 2027.
Rees said: “London is not just a global Tier 1 event destination, but it is of real strategic importance for the North American market and the technological sector in particular. As well as seeing brands choose London for their flagship European events, we are also witnessing a growing trend for hosting a series of smaller, standalone events or roadshows.”
London was also named Cvent’s top European meeting destination for the fourth year running, and AMEX GBT’s top EMEA destination for the third consecutive time. Rees pointed to Excel’s investment alongside the Elizabeth Line as supporting factors, adding: “The demand we are seeing is not only in an increased number of events but also their size, scale and complexity.”
