On 09/10/2007, Kwan Ting Chan <ktc(a)ktchan.info> wrote:
It is safe to
assume the majority of the attendees from outside Europe
will arrive in London and most of those from Europe will arrive in
London or the southeast. As a result logistics mean that Scotland and
northern england would be problematical. In terms of facilities people
are generally looking at universities so in practice we are probably
looking for universities within striking distance of London.
Well, Edinburgh can be a possibility if you go north.
The accommodation is a plenty whether one looking at university related
or otherwise. Flights and trains available from London. Tourist
demonstrably have no problem traveling there as seen from the numbers
during the Edinburgh Festival. However, as because of the festival,
August will be out, so one will be looking at mid-to-end July.
(Disclaimer: I love Edinburgh dearly)
The problem with anywhere that isn't in the immediate vicinity of a
major international airport (ie, London or the area; Manchester, etc)
is that every attendee from abroad basically has to pay an extra leg
compared to going to a city that is. (Oxford gets by on this
consideration because it's relatively close to Heathrow, but Edinburgh
isn't...)
This means that if you have two cities of equal expense, the one with
the better transport is, well, better.
International travel into Edinburgh - at least from outside NW Europe
- sucks; you need to go into London or Glasgow or Manchester and
change. This means, oh, an extra £20-£100 per head in transport costs.
With Edinburgh not being a very cheap city regardless - not up there
with London, but pushing it - and with price being one of the major
negative factors in a UK bid, this isn't a very good sign...
That said, it's not implausible a July bid might be workable. I'm just
not sold we could keep the prices down enough to be in with a chance.
--
- Andrew Gray
andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk