The Edinburgh International Conference Centre, usually shortened to the EICC, is Scotland’s leading conference venue. It sits in the west end of Edinburgh and hosts around 200,000 delegates a year. If you’re exhibiting here, this guide covers the practical things worth knowing before you plan your stand.
The EICC is a slightly different kind of venue to a big exhibition hall, and understanding that up front helps you plan properly.
What kind of venue the EICC is
This matters, so it’s worth being clear. The EICC is primarily a conference and convention centre, not a vast exhibition barn like ExCeL or the NEC. Exhibitions here often run alongside a conference rather than as standalone trade shows across acres of floor.
That’s not a drawback. It just shapes how you plan. If you’re exhibiting at the EICC, you’re usually reaching a focused, engaged audience of delegates attending an event, rather than casual foot traffic passing dozens of stands. For a lot of businesses, that’s a higher quality audience, even if the numbers are smaller.
The venue offers flexible exhibition space within its suites and halls. The Cromdale Hall gives around 1,185 square metres of exhibition space, and the Lennox Suite is a large, adaptable space with moving floor technology that can be set up flat for exhibitions or transformed for other uses. There are several other suites and a total of more than twenty event rooms across the building.
The building runs across several levels
Here’s the single most important practical point about the EICC. Unlike a flat, ground level exhibition hall, the EICC operates across multiple floors. Some spaces sit below ground, others at ground level, and some several floors up.
For an exhibitor, that affects how your stand and materials get to your space. Getting a build into a below ground suite or an upper floor takes more planning than wheeling it straight off a loading bay into a ground level hall. It’s completely manageable, but it needs thinking about in advance. When we build at the EICC, we plan the route and the logistics around exactly where your space sits in the building.
Getting there
The EICC’s location is excellent. It’s in central Edinburgh, a short walk from Haymarket station and the tram line, and within walking distance of the city’s main stations and west end hotels. The airport is around 30 minutes away by tram, train, bus or taxi.
For delegates and visitors, that central position is a real plus. They can reach the venue easily and enjoy the city around it. There’s car parking nearby too, including NCP and hotel car parks, though as with any city centre venue, public transport is often the simpler choice.
Planning your stand for a conference audience
Because the EICC audience is usually delegates attending a conference, your stand strategy can be a little different to a big trade show.
People here often have breaks between sessions, so they’re browsing with time to talk rather than rushing past. That rewards a stand that invites a proper conversation. A comfortable space to stop, something worth discussing, and staff ready to engage all work well. You’re less reliant on grabbing attention from a fast moving crowd and more focused on making the most of a captive, relevant audience.
The basics still apply. Clear branding, good lighting and a professional finish. But the emphasis shifts slightly toward engagement and conversation rather than pure stopping power.
Shell scheme or space only?
Depending on the event, you may be offered a shell scheme, a space only option, or a table top display. Smaller conference exhibitions sometimes use simpler setups than a full trade show.
Whatever the format, the same principle holds. A basic setup can be lifted a long way with proper graphics and lighting. Even a compact display looks far more professional when it’s properly branded rather than left plain. If you’re not sure what format your event uses, check with the organiser, and we can advise on the best way to make it work.
How Exhibition Stand Hire handles the EICC for you
We design, build, transport, install and remove stands at the EICC and across Scotland and the UK. The multi level layout and city centre location mean planning matters here, and that’s exactly what we take care of. You get a stand designed for your space, delivered and installed without you having to work out how to get it to a below ground suite.
The process is the same as always. You tell us your event and your goals, we design the stand and show you a 3D visual, you approve it, and we handle the build from there.
Exhibiting in Edinburgh?
If you’ve got an event at the EICC, we can help you make a strong impression on a focused, high value audience. Tell us about your event and the space you’ve got, and we’ll come back with ideas and a clear quote. If you’re exhibiting elsewhere in Scotland too, we cover the whole country, so it’s worth a conversation either way.
