29 Oct 2024
Glasgow is Scotland’s cultural powerhouse. As the UK’s first UNESCO City of Music and one of the world’s leading sporting cities, Glasgow is home to outstanding museums, galleries and attractions; a rich architectural heritage and a thriving and diverse food and drink scene.
At the same time, Glasgow’s incredible, year-round programme of major cultural and sporting events, business events and festivals – from Celtic Connections to the 2026 Commonwealth Games – is recognised globally and the city is a first choice tourism destination, attracting visitors from across the world to enjoy our unrivalled experiences and famous warm welcome.
New data shows Glasgow’s visitor volume and value in 2023 nearly doubled compared to the previous year.
Almost 4 million tourists spent £2.35 billion in the city, supporting the creation of more than 8,000 new jobs locally, fuelled by our delivery of the first-ever UCI Cycling World Championships and Banksy’s much-loved Cut&Run exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art; both of which reinforced Glasgow’s reputation as a trusted and innovative host for major global events.
Presenting the best of contemporary Scotland, the importance and impact of Glasgow’s cultural, tourism and events ecosystem cannot be overstated and it makes a significant contribution to Scotland’s social and economic success. It brings diverse communities together; contributes positively to health and wellbeing outcomes; creates highly skilled jobs; develops our young people; and strengthens the city’s international reputation.
About our speaker:
As Chief Executive of Glasgow Life, one of Scotland’s largest charities, Susan Deighan is the city’s strategic lead for Culture, Sport, and Events, as well as being responsible for building Glasgow’s global profile as a world-class leisure and business tourism destination. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the public sector, having held senior positions within Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life.
Susan’s work includes overseeing Glasgow Life’s direct delivery of culture and sport services and programmes across the city. The charity is responsible for more than 100 public buildings, from iconic venues like the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum to The Mitchell Library and the Emirates Arena. Glasgow Life also operates an extensive network of community facilities, including 32 local libraries, 18 community centres and the Glasgow Club; Scotland’s largest health and fitness network.
Working in partnership with local and national agencies, Susan provides expertise, guidance, and leadership across key initiatives in support of Glasgow’s culture, sport, tourism and events priorities.
She also has responsibility for leading the development of major city strategies, which in the past 12 months has included the refreshed Vision for Glasgow’s Libraries; the city’s new Culture Strategy, and the Glasgow 2030 Tourism Strategy.
Glasgow Life is also currently finalising a new Events Strategy for the city, which will be launched on 26 November 2024 at The Social Hub, as well as developing innovative new city strategies for community learning, and physical activity and sport, both of which will be published in 2025.
Core to Glasgow Life’s vision is the belief in the transformative power of culture and sport to fundamentally change people’s lives – helping to build happier, healthier, more prosperous and more productive communities.
Wednesday 27 November,
Glasgow City Halls
2.00PM - 4.00PM
