The Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company has claimed events at Excel London jumped by almost a fifth in 2011 compared with the previous year.
 
According to the venue owner, events at the east London venue increased from 242 in 2010 to 284 in 2011, an increase of 17 per cent. The total increase across the group's three venues, the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Excel London and Al Ain Convention Centre, jumped 18 per cent to 733 events.
 
Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre was the stellar performer and saw a 56 per cent year-on-year increase as its total number of events shot up to 231 from 148 in 2010.
 
“The growing number and scale of the events we host is a clear signal of our ambitions and rising prominence in the events industry,” said Adnec MD H.E. Ali Saeed Bin Harmal Al Dhaheri.
 
One of Excel's key achievements, according to Adnec, was the staging of WorldSkills, the venue's largest event to-date. The event brought together 150,000 people from around the world making it, on paper, the most successful edition in the event’s 50-year history.

Last year also saw the opening of the 252-room ADNEC-owned Aloft London Excel, boosting hotel room capacity at the venue to 1,400. 
 
Excel was accredited with ISO14001 and BS8901 certification at the end of last year.
 
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