THE former deputy managing director of the BIC believes the centre needs to be the home of political conferences in the south.

Second in command at the BIC from 1993 to 2010, Steven Smith believes Bournemouth needs to topple Brighton's chokehold on political conferences on the South Coast.

Brighton is hosting the Liberal Democrats conference on September 14-17 and Steven expressed annoyance that Bournemouth let the opportunity slip through its fingers.

He said: "As a town, it should be knocking on the door of these organisations to say 'we want your conference.' That is the reason why it was built.

"From an economic point of view, you get 15-20 nights of rock and roll. Why is it that you're not getting the big association stuff?"

Steven says he is concerned that the town will lose footfall now Bournemouth Air Festival, which has helped keep the local economy ticking, has come to an end.

Steven believes conferences could prop up the hospitality business while tempting conference attendees to visit in the future and bringing wealthy visitors to town.

The BIC has hosted several national political conferences in its 40-year history which include the Labour Party conference in 1985 and the Conservative Party conference in 1990.

Tom Hayes, MP for Bournemouth East, said he would love to see the conference held in Bournemouth but disagreed with Steven that it is feasible.

He said: "The only reason why Labour hasn't been back to the BIC is because of the capacity.

"I think it's really important we're coming to Bournemouth for our regional conference and that we bring the prime minister to that and hopefully that would be hosted by the BIC."

A spokesperson for BH Live confirmed the most recent conference was the Autumn Liberal Democrats conference in 2023.

It disagreed with Steven's comments and said that the centre welcomes over 300,000 visitors a year.

The spokesperson said: "Last year, events hosted at the BIC generated millions of pounds in economic benefit through business and cultural tourism.

"The venue has recently benefited from significant investment (by BCP Council and BH Live) to ensure the venue remains attractive for major events, and that organisers, delegates and showgoers have a great experience.”