Final preparations are well underway for the Suffolk Inside Out tourism conference, which takes place at Trinity Park, Ipswich, a week today.

The event will bring together businesses and industry professionals alongside academics and students from University Campus Suffolk (UCS) and offers an opportunity for networking while exploring growth opportunities through tourism trends such as “staycations”.

Speakers will address financial, political and environmental issues affecting Suffolk’s tourism businesses, with East Anglian Daily Times editor Terry Hunt acting as facilitator for the event, following on from last year’s conference which was entitled “Suffolk Unlocked” and supported by VisitSuffolk.

Suffolk Inside Out is the latest in an annual series of business-to-business conferences to been developed by event management students at UCS.

Kesha Allen, an event and business management degree student and a member of the Suffolk Inside Out project team, said: “The team are delighted to have the support of Archant and our fantastic sponsors. We have an exciting programme for the morning; it’s an event not to be missed!”

Speakers at the event will include Martin Evans, managing partner of hospitality and tourism consultancy The Tourism Business, James Kennel, director of the Economic Development Resource Centre at the University of Greenwich, and Helen Oldfield, director and founder of Ipswich-based Affinity PR.

She said: “At Suffolk Inside Out I will explore ways that our tourism businesses can benefit from collaborative working. Being a Visiting Fellow at UCS is collaboration. I share my knowledge of PR, marketing and the tourism and events industries with the students, and they help to keep me on my toes!”

Also speaking will be Professor David Gill, director of heritage and futures at UCS, who will discuss cultural heritage tourism, and Neil Prentice, managing director of White Space Agency, which is also based in Ipswich, who will discuss approaches to marketing.

Completing the line-up will be Chris Scargill, tourism and leisure partner at chartered accountants firm Larking Gowen, who will speak on tourism research and financial stability.

The morning will concluded with a Q&A panel discussion involving the speakers, followed by a networking lunch.

The conference, on Friday, March 11, will run from 8.30am until 1pm. Places cost £30, including refreshments and lunch, and can be secured at http://onlineshop.ucs.ac.uk .

Exhibition space and sponsorship packages are also available Wednesday, March 9.